TV

Broken Saints
Chapter 19 Signals
Yes, the pretentiousness still lingers, but look at the story move! If only it had gone at this (relatively normal, it must be said) rate from the earliest episodes it might've garnered a wider appeal.

This World
Mandela: The 90th Year
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Argumental
1x13 Best of Argumental [season finale]
Mostly just bits we've already seen, of course, but it was a long series with lots worth re-enjoying; plus, I missed two episodes, so there were a few things I'd never seen from them. And it was worth watching just for the short segment of outtakes, including John Sergeant having to mime pressing a buzzer -- at least ten times more entertaining than that sounds.
Argumental returns in March -- yay!

Broken Saints
Chapter 18 Forecast
Elements like prophecies and dreams are often rather silly things in drama -- they tend not to advance the plot, just pad things out suggesting what might be to come. While the Tarot card reading in this episode is very atmospheric and nicely done, it's also incredibly easy to guess the significance of every part; consequently, it doesn't add anything to the story and goes on far too long. Nice fight at the end though.

Articles

Is Matt Damon right to brand James Bond 'repulsive'? by Ben Child
(from Film Blog at guardian.co.uk)
"Matt Damon has confirmed he will return for a fourth Bourne film, and used the opportunity to take another side-swipe at 007. But will the British secret agent have the last laugh?"
Yes, because however good Bourne is, the Bond franchise will far outlast him.

Porn interrupts Super Bowl TV coverage by Robert Booth
(from guardian.co.uk)
"As this year's clash between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals neared a thrilling climax, TV viewers in Tuscon, Arizona, witnessed an intimate exposure of a completely different order... with less than three minutes to play in a tightly fought final, the Cardinals had taken the lead with a crucial touchdown. Fans watching in Arizona would have been forgiven for scenting a victory for their team against the odds. Then the pictures from Tampa disappeared. Instead, viewers were astonished to see a woman unzipping a man's trousers to reveal "full male nudity" followed by what was described as "a graphic act" between the couple. Somehow, the feed from Super Bowl XLIII had been mixed up with a 30-second excerpt from Club Jenna, an adult cable TV channel featuring Jenna Jameson, one of America's most famous porn actresses."
All I have to say about this is, "lol". And some quotes to add to the humour:
""I just figured it was another commercial until I looked up," Cora King, of Marana, told the Arizona Daily Star. "Then he did his little dance with everything hanging out." Another viewer, Jeanene Piek, said she was outraged that her granddaughter had seen the clip. "I was in a state of shock. I am totally disgusted," she said."

TV

Broken Saints
Chapter 16 Fallen
Chapter 17 Lazarus
Lazarus is by far the best chapter yet, containing both some comprehensible plot and some decent character drama too. And then, just to cement things, the closing quote is from Doctor Who!

TV

QI
6x06 Fakes and Frauds (extended edition)
They put both cuts of QI on iPlayer now, y'know. Why?! is all I have to say on that.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Eurovision: Your Country Needs You
Episode 5 (of 5)
In which the person who will inevitably lose this year's Eurovision for us was chosen, and it was... oh, darn it, I've forgotten. They all sang the song the same anyway, despite the judges insisting they all "made it their own". What a load of twaddle.
Despite our protestations, we've still won Eurovision more times than anyone else... or possibly exactly the same times as someone else... still, we're either first or joint first.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Friday Night With Jonathan Ross
16x02 (30/1/09 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Broken Saints
Chapter 15 Tempest

Lark Rise to Candleford
2x05 Episode 5
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Not Going Out
3x01 Pregnant
I remember, when Not Going Out started, being worried it wouldn't even make it to a second series; but here's the third, and there was a Christmas special to boot! (Research reveals that was Christmas 2007, and there hasn't been a series since. God, time flies -- I didn't think it was this year, but it also doesn't feel like almost 13 months since it was last on. I must be getting old...)
Anyway, the quality seems to have stepped back up too (the second series wasn't half as good as the first). Incredibly traditional sitcom? Undoubtedly. Some jokes predictable? Yes. But it's still hilarious, so does that matter? Not a jot.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Articles

Watchmen: Tales of the Black Freighter (R1/US BD) in March by Dave Foster
(from DVD Times)
So, this isn't the UK release, but oh, look, Watchmen is most surely on its way now! Also very nice to note is the stylistic similarity between the cover for this and the also-recently-announced DVD/BD of The Complete Motion Comic -- hopefully the eventual release of the film (and the already-promised extended re-release) will also follow this design.

Watchmen: The End is Nigh
(from Wikipedia)
In other Watchmen news, some info on the video game (and as it's from Wikipedia, it'll always be up-to-date -- hurrah!)

Poem of the Week: Lenore

by Edgar Allan Poe

Yep, it's Poe again. However, there's a good reason. You may've noticed Lenore mentioned in last week's poem. Well, here's an earlier poem by Poe that may or may not bear some relation...

Ah, broken is the golden bowl! the spirit flown forever!
Let the bell toll! — a saintly soul floats on the Stygian river,
And, Guy De Vere, hast thou no tear? — weep now or never more!
See! on yon drear and rigid bier low lies thy love, Lenore!
Come! let the burial rite be read — the funeral song be sung! —
An anthem for the queenliest dead that ever died so young —
A dirge for her the doubly dead in that she died so young.

"Wretches! ye loved her for her wealth and hated her for her pride,
"And when she fell in feeble health, ye blessed her — that she died!
"How shall the ritual, then, be read? — the requiem how be sung
"By you — by yours, the evil eye, — by yours, the slanderous tongue
"That did to death the innocence that died, and died so young?"

Peccavimus; but rave not thus! and let a Sabbath song
Go up to God so solemnly the dead may feel no wrong!
The sweet Lenore hath "gone before," with Hope, that flew beside,
Leaving thee wild for the dear child that should have been thy bride —
For her, the fair and debonair, that now so lowly lies,
The life upon her yellow hair but not within her eyes —
The life still there, upon her hair — the death upon her eyes.

"Avaunt! to-night my heart is light. No dirge will I upraise,
"But waft the angel on her flight with a Pæan of old days!
"Let no bell toll! — lest her sweet soul, amid its hallowed mirth,
"Should catch the note, as it doth float — up from the damnéd Earth.
"To friends above, from fiends below, the indignant ghost is riven —
"From Hell unto a high estate far up within the Heaven —
"From moan and groan, to a golden throne, beside the King of Heaven."

Lenore was revised many times throughout Poe's life, and consequently there an unbelievably large number of variations out there. This, to the best of my knowledge, is his final version, published in August 1845. For the first, published February 1843, look here.

In fact, the very first version was published in 1831, as A Pæan, and is considered so different from the finished product that they're both usually published in anthologies.

You can learn even more about Lenore over at the ever-reliable Wikipedia.

TV

Broken Saints
Chapter 14 Harbingers

A Short Stay in Switzerland
To be brutally honest, it wasn't always the best-written drama. But Julie Walters' performance was brilliant, of course, and that coupled with the well-handled later scenes -- plus the fact that it's all true -- made for a powerful piece nonetheless. An important addition to the debate if nothing else.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films / Websites

Ace Ventura Jr.: Pet Detective Official Site
Oh dear God no.
Surely this semi-ancient franchise doesn't need reviving at all, and certainly not in this horrendous form?! It's been fifteen years since the first film -- kids born after it was released are too old to watch this! Damn you for introducing younger impressionable youths to this, video and DVD! Damn you!

Articles

Doctor Who filming disrupted as double decker bus wrecked by Ben Leach, from Telegraph.co.uk
and
Doctor's double decker wrecker by Colin Robertson, from The Sun
It's an interesting story 'n' all (and you can see two pics of the extent of the damage here), but even more interesting are these two stories about it. Two very different papers, with very different audiences, and completely different authors, but the articles are almost identical -- and, by the end, they're virtually word-for-word the same.

Film Review of 2008 by Roger Keen
(from Video Vista)
"Hellboy II: The Golden Army... was a bit simplistic and comic-bookish". A comic book adaptation having a comic-bookish plot? My God, what's the world coming to?! (Don't bother reading the rest of the article, it's almost all that bad.)

K9 Production Latest by John Bowman
(from The Doctor Who News Page)
All the latest on the forthcoming non-BBC Doctor Who spin-off, now known simply as K9. It actually sounds almost promising...

Narnia To Take Off With Fox
(from Studio Briefing)
"Following Disney's decision not to co-finance the next Chronicles of Narnia feature, 20th Century Fox plans to partner with Walden Media to make the movie. Variety reported that the film, Voyage of the Dawn Treader, will have a production budget of $140 million -- far less than the $215 million that last year's Prince Caspian cost. Nevertheless, the Los Angeles Times commented today that while the budget is much lower than Caspian, "it's still a big gamble.""

New pornography laws 'could make comic books illegal', say campaigners by Jon Swaine
(from Telegraph.co.uk)
Sounds kinda silly -- and it is, a bit -- but it also has a point. Damn Government.

TV

Broken Saints
Chapter 13 Insertion
After another two week gap (thanks to work), it's on with the second half of the story... (Though, as mentioned previously, in length terms halfway is still a little way off.)
Still as pretentious as they come, but at least the story's moving now.

The Secret Life of Elephants
Part 3 (of 3)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Articles

Broadband Won't Replace HD Discs Soon, Says Report
(from Studio Briefing)
"Although many experts are predicting that the ability to 'rent' or buy movies via the Internet will result in the demise of DVDs and Blu-ray discs, new research... indicates that Blu-ray sales alone are expected to increase... to $2.9 billion. At the same time, cable video-on-demand and broadband will generate only $1.5 billion in revenue... The problem, experts agreed, is inherent in broadband services -- the virtual impossibility of delivering 1080p high-definition content to customers given the limitations of the Internet."
Said so. Not necessarily for those reasons (or those reasons alone), but I did say so.

TV

The Sandbaggers
2x06 Operation Kingmaker [season finale]
After last season's dramatic life-or-death finale this one might seem a little low-key and office-bound. But the political wrangling is in full force, and there's an awful lot at stake should Burnside lose (again).

Articles

The eight drivers behind Top Gear stunt driver The Stig's famous racing whites by Richard Simpson
(from Mail Online)
So last week one was (allegedly) revealed, then it was revealed there were actually four drivers, and now there are apparently eight -- and all named. And at no point has the journalist wondered if someone might be pulling his leg by this point -- especially as he writes for the Daily Mail?

The joke's on Ricky Gervais as he reveals his father 'may have been drunk' when he filled in his birth certificate
(from Mail Online)
And revealing even more than is comfortable, really.
And Christ, the Mail has overlong headlines, doesn't it?

Review of Tropic Thunder 3-disc Director's Cut DVD by James Gray
(from DVD Times)

This year's Best Picture Oscar nominees are: Frost/Nixon, Milk, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Reader, and Slumdog Millionaire. How many of these movies have you seen? (poll results)
(from IMDb)
While the poll hasn't closed as of this posting, the majority of likely votes are in. Rather unsurprisingly, over 46% haven't seen any, while under 20% have even managed to see three or more.

Also, see the Tintin film press release here.

Tintin announcement

Paramount Pictures and Sony Pictures Entertainment Announce the January 26 Start of Principal Photography on the 3D Motion Capture Feature The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn Directed by Steven Spielberg and Starring Jamie Bell and Daniel Craig
(press release, published at CommanderBond.net)

Ah, press release titles! But oh so promising:

"The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn, directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Jamie Bell (Billy Elliot, Defiance) as Tintin, the intrepid young reporter whose relentless pursuit of a good story thrusts him into a world of high adventure, and Daniel Craig (Quantum of Solace, Defiance) as the nefarious Red Rackham."

Shame to lose young Thomas Sangster (Love Actually, Doctor Who: Human Nature/The Family of Blood) as Tintin, but there you go.

"Bell and Craig are joined by an international cast that includes Andy Serkis, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Gad Elmaleh, Toby Jones and Mackenzie Crook... screenplay by Steven Moffat [hurray!], Edgar Wright [surprise!] and Joe Cornish [well, I never...], is produced by Spielberg, Peter Jackson and Kathleen Kennedy" -- all good also.

It "is the first in the series of 3D motion capture films based on the iconic character... and is due for release in 2011... The second feature in the series is scheduled to be directed by Jackson, with a potential for a third film as well."

It will be most intriguing to see if, as it's 3D mo-cap, they keep anything of the actors' features, or just turn them all into 3D versions of their comic counterparts (the latter might be an especially good idea for Pegg and Frost's characters...)

TV

Gilmore Girls
5x19 But I'm a Gilmore!

TV

Cracker
1x02 The Mad Woman in the Attic Part 2
Ah, proper intelligent drama. Despite what some people would have you believe, we do still get stuff this good on TV these days, it's just rare... as rare as it surely was back then, I'm certain.
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

QI
6x05 France (extended edition)
"We've invaded Britain. LOL." "O.M.G."
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Articles

ITV Stockwell drama draws just 1.4m by Neil Wilkes
(from Digital Spy)
"A one-off drama based on the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes pulled in just 1.4 million viewers to ITV1... Stockwell, recreating the controversial chain of events leading to de Menezes' death at Stockwell tube station in July 2005, pulled in just 1.39m... ITV was beaten by all other terrestrial channels over the period, including Five, which enjoyed an audience of 2.1m for Wesley Snipes thriller movie The Contractor." Ha, how pitiful! Clearly they misjudged people's interest there then.

New Skins pulls in 833,000 by Neil Wilkes
(from Digital Spy)
"The third series of the teen drama, which introduced an almost entirely new cast, averaged 665k [with] an additional 169k on E4+1. The figures are down around a third on the premiere of series two, which managed 1.06m and 237k... The first series premiered to 1.48m." Oh dear oh dear. Or, alternatively, oh yes oh yes!

Ross sparks new row with 'OAP sex joke' by Daniel Kilkelly
(from Digital Spy)
Note how DS report this fuss over nothing (no, it really really is this time), but haven't bothered to mention that:

Ross TV return is watched by 5.1m
(from BBC News)
Ha!
"Ross's last chat show in October before his suspension was watched by 3.74m."
Double ha!