TV

The Sandbaggers
1x07 Special Relationship [season finale]
Absolutely excellent; probably the best episode yet. One often thinks the concept of a "season finale", a grand final episode where the stakes are higher than any other, as being quite a modern American-inherited invention, but clearly the idea behind it goes back much further. Why can't all TV be this good?

Sharpe
7x02 Sharpe's Peril Part 2 [season finale]
A much stronger, and more action-packed, second half. One wonders if the international version -- which is only 102 minutes, in-keeping with the original series of Sharpe episodes (this British version totals 138 minutes) -- cuts equally from both halves, or gets rid of more of the first half's slower-paced relative dross. Both versions be on the DVD release (either out now or soon, depending on which sites you believe), so I suppose anyone who cares can find out then.

Top Gear
12x02 (9/11/08 edition)
Not entertaining, ohhh no.

Fiction

Marvel 1602 by Neil Gaiman, Andy Kubert & Richard Isanove
Part One
What if all the Marvel heroes appeared 400 years early, in Elizabethan England? It's an intriguing setup that starts well in this first part (of eight). Hopefully Gaiman can keep the story up and take it beyond the novelty factor of Sir Nicholas Fury being the Queen's chief spy, with young Peter Parquagh as his assistant, or 'witchbreeds' Scotius Summerisle, Robert Trefusis and John Grey rescuing a bewinged boy from a burning courtesy of the inquisition.
One element that never disappoints is Kubert's art, which has a cleanly realistic style that I always like, and here is beautifully computer-painted by Isanvoe. The pair did stunning work in a very similar vein on Origin (the series that finally revealed the early life of Wolverine) back in 2001/2, and this style certainly suits the faux-historical content of the two books. Also, Scott McKowen's wonderfully evocative covers (all of which can be seen here) shouldn't go without a mention.

Queen & Country - Operation: Broken Ground by Greg Rucka & Steve Rolston
Chapter 1
Queen & Country is an unofficial comics continuation of the world of The Sandbaggers, though set in the present day. It's immediately obvious from this first issue that the style has been faithfully maintained -- which makes it fantastic. This first chapter is available online for free (legally) on this page, or a direct link here (you'll need to right click + Save As, or what have you). You'll also need some software to read .cbr files -- I use FFView, which is Mac-only, but Wikipedia has some Windows (and Linux) suggestions.

Articles

10 most uncool James Bond moments by James Clayton
(from Den of Geek!)
Some of these are undeniably true, but Den of Geek is still rubbish.

Jackson Plans Busy 2009 As Nick Fury
(from WENN)
"Samuel L. Jackson is preparing for a busy 2009 -- he's aiming to feature in a host of movie comics after he was revealed as superspy Nick Fury at the end of Iron Man." Apologies to anyone who considers that a spoiler, but c'mon, it's five months old now. "[Jackson] will play a key part in Iron Man 2... 'I should kinda pass through Iron Man 2, Captain America, Thor -- all those things -- and eventually get to that Avengers space... They sorta gave me a master plan about how they want it to work... I'll do every movie they wanna do." And while he didn't turn up in The Incredible Hulk, someone else did (and without having to wait til the end of the credits either!)

TV

Have I Got News For You
36x04 (7/11/08 edition; extended repeat)
The added material is often very funny, and really speaking there's quite a lot of it, but it's usually little bits scattered about and so at times feels a bit of a trawl.

Merlin
1x08 The Beginning of the End

Merlin: The Legend
Nothing to do with the current TV series, but a documentary on the history of the character in literature and whatnot. Of some interest, but occasionally padded and slow.

Fiction

Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote
There are, I think, three things that might surprise people who've only really heard the title & fame of the book/film Breakfast at Tiffany's -- certainly, they surprised me the first time I discovered them. One, it's by Truman Capote, the author of In Cold Blood and the subject of the surprisingly mediocre 2005 film Capote. Two, it's only 92 pages long, and that with relatively large text for a literary book. It doesn't even have any chapters. Shocking! And three, the character portrayed by Audrey Hepburn in the film, Holly Golightly, isn't... well, I'm not sure what she isn't, really, but she wasn't what I expected.

Marvel 1602 by Neil Gaiman & Andy Kubert
Time After Time: From 1602 to 2004 by Peter Sanderson
A distinctly above-average introduction to a graphic novel, by academic Sanderson, that acts as both an introduction to some of the characters involved and to the themes and concepts explored. Super.

Articles

"And Don't Crash It!" by Christopher Middleton
(from Radio Times 8-14 November 2008, p.14-16)
Richard Hammond and 'Gene Hunt' chat about the Ashes to Ashes special, part of Children in Need this Friday. Highly amusing stories about their driving tests too.

Daniel Craig On Continuing Bond's Journey In Quantum of Solace by Devin Zydel
(from CommanderBond.net)
But, more important than Craig going on about the Bond/Vesper love story again, there's this: "Someone asked me before, who would win a fight, Bond or Batman or Bourne? And I said, 'Bond would get the other two to punch the shit out of each other while betting on both of them and having a martini.'"

"I'd love to reinvent Q and Moneypenny" by Tim Roth
(from CommanderBond.net)
So say Daniel Craig. Plus, a gay Bond?

TV

Have I Got News For You
36x04 (7/11/08 edition)

Russell Brand's Ponderland
2x02 Family
He may've quit the BBC, but he's still on C4! Cos they know what they're doing, see.

The Sandbaggers
1x06 A Feasible Solution
Now that I'm all caught up with Spooks, I can get back into some more realistic spying, '70s style.

Films

Gasman (1997)
[#76a in 100 Films in a Year 2008]
Short from the director of Ratcatcher and Morvern Callar.

Articles

Morrissey responds to Dr Who rumours by Ben Rawson-Jones
(from Digital Spy)
"As for any talk of me taking over as the next Doctor, well, if or when they do choose someone, they would have to be totally different to David - which I am." Based on his comments about the Christmas special, however, I doubt he will be. (Note that they contain what might be termed spoilers.) Apparently some papers are reporting that Colin Salmon has been cast in the part, but I've not seen that covered anywhere.

New Defiance Poster by Emily Phillips
(from Empire Online)
Ooh, don't they look defiant?

Rickrolling: Rick Astley named Best Act Ever at the MTV Europe Music Awards by Matthew Moore
(from Telegraph.co.uk)
"lol".

Sam Mendes Talks Preacher by Chris Hewitt
(from Empire Online)
"This is a typical Variety announcement," says Mendes "'Mendes to direct Preacher' – I wish! Basically they should have written, 'Mendes in development with Preacher'. What I’m doing is, I’ve gotta find a script. I’ve just got to get it written." Read on for more info on why Mendes took on the long-gestating project. Also, try Empire's Who the Hell is Preacher? guide, which is thankfully very light on spoilers.

Spielberg And Smith To Remake Oldboy? by Chris Hewitt
(from Empire Online)
"Unexpected" is the key word for this one. "We do like it when a project comes out of leftfield – and they don't come much more leftfield than this: Steven Spielberg and Will Smith are in talks to direct and star in a remake of Chan-wook Park's belting 2004 revenge thriller, Oldboy... as well as being compelling, bold, and utterly brilliant, Oldboy is the sort of uncompromising, dark thriller that would represent a huge risk for... the most bankable director-star team in the world. Which, if you're wondering, is exactly what Smith and Spielberg represent."

TV

8 Out of 10 Cats
7x10 (6/11/08 edition)
An appropriate degree of lambasting the General Public for complaining about things they've not even seen/heard.

Little Dorrit
Part 4 (of 14)

Never Mind the Buzzcocks
22x06 (6/11/08 edition)
Obviously taped in the wake of the recent BBC scandal, this Buzzcocks did a typically great job of extracting all the humour out of BBC shows needing to 'behave' now.

Films

Clockwise (1986)
[#76 in 100 Films in a Year 2008]

Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon (1943)
[#75 in 100 Films in a Year 2008]

Articles: James Bond

All James Bond-related articles today...

Children banned from cinemas for Bond film as adults demand peace and quiet by Colin Fernandez
(from Mail Online)
Well done, Vue! Very well done indeed. Shame it costs an extra 50p -- though, I'd pay that for the added peace & quiet! -- but at least they're intending to continue the move for some future releases.

'I wanted to make the Bond movie I always wanted to see...' by Devin Zydel
(from CommanderBond.net)
Director Marc Forster has one or two different things to say. For my musing on these endless interviews with the same people, see here.

Just what is the greatest Bond film ever? by Mark Oakley
(from Den of Geek!)
The idea is decent, the criteria intriguing, but the final reasoning weak and most of the conclusions wrong (in my opinion, obviously). It doesn't help that the limited films included make it over a decade out of date! I've been looking at a fair bit of Den of Geek today, and have concluded that it's all round a rather rubbish site.

Michael G. Wilson On Reinventing James Bond by Devin Zydel
(from CommanderBond.net)
The producer discusses the up & down nature of the franchise.

TV

Heroes
3x06 Dying of the Light

Heroes Unmasked
3x06 Teenage Kicks

Little Dorrit
Part 3 (of 14)

Spooks
7x03 The Tip-Off

Non-Fiction

Story by Robert McKee
Chapter 11

Articles

Interview with Quantum of Solace Star Daniel Craig by Thomas Leupp
(from ReelzChannel)
There have, obviously, been dozens of interviews with Craig and other QoS-related people of late -- and, with the US release still 9 days away, I seriously doubt we've seen the end of them -- but they always tend to contain one or two answers a little different from the rest. It's also interesting to see what fansites like CommanderBond.net make of them. Their headline for this article was Craig: Creativity And Talent Must Fuel Bond Franchise Future. There's nothing inherent in the actual interview that suggests this is Craig's primary point -- it's one answer among many, about halfway through -- but it must be a bit different to what he's commented on elsewhere for them to feel the need to pull it out.

Michael Crichton Dies Aged 66 by Chris Hewitt
(from Empire Online)
"the author of Jurassic Park has died at the age of 66. The enormously popular novelist, who also enjoyed success as a film director, passed away following what his family have called, “a courageous and private battle against cancer”. [Crichton] also created the enormously popular medical drama ER... adapted Robert Wise’s sci-fi thriller, The Andromeda Strain from his own novel, [and directed] Westworld, Coma and The Great Train Robbery... Many of his other novels were also filmed, including Disclosure, Sphere, Congo, and Timeline. In total, his novels sold over 150 million copies worldwide."

Pair of Sequels Planned for Road to Perdition by Scott Weinberg
(from Cinematical)
Road to Perdition is a great film based on a great book, but it's not something you'd necessarily expect sequels to. That said, the involvement of Max Allan Collins, who wrote the original graphic novel and has since penned a sequel, bodes a bit better. This won't form the basis for the sequel films, however, which instead seem to be based on two continuation novels (as in, words no piccies) that Collins wrote.

British currency, re-designed

Did you know they've redesigned all the coins in use in the UK? I didn't. I feel I should have. This is the first time British coinage has been redesigned since decimalisation almost 40 years ago!

They're a bit too modern-looking for my taste. I seriously doubt it'll be 40 years before they change again.

TV

Stephen Fry in America
Part 4 Mountains and Plains
Marvellous as ever. It's a wonderful mix of intelligence, wit, and boyish glee.

Non-Fiction

Story by Robert McKee
Chapter 10

Fiction

Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again by Frank Miller & Lynn Varley
Book Three [the end]
Finally found a chance to finish this. The concluding part is better and more coherent than the others, but still suffers from Miller's over-simplistic over-large art, as well as bunging in a ludicrous number of things from the DC universe that he assumes you'll just know. A comic for comic geeks, then, and as weak as those usually are. Be sure to read The Dark Knight Returns (it's really brilliant), but skip this.

Articles

Outnumbered returns to BBC One
(from the BBC Press Office)
Hurray! Bring on November 15th I say.

Review of Executive Koala DVD by Kevin Gilvear
(from DVD Times)
This sounds wonderfully loopy. I mean, just look at that title, and consider that it's live action! Fabulous.

Tuesday Link-a-Mania by Dave Golder
(from SFX)
A few years ago, the BBC produced a two-part drama called Space Odyssey: Voyage to the Planets, a near-future sci-fi in which a spaceship set out to explore the solar system. It was one of them drama-documentary things, designed to educate about the solar system, but one suspects writer-director Joe Ahearne (of Ultraviolet, Doctor Who, and next week's new BBC One series Apparitions) was more interested in the dramatic potential of the thing. And quite right too -- it's a fab idea (you should check it out on DVD). So I'm exceedingly pleased to learn that the BBC, US's Fox, and companies from Canada and Germany, are teaming up to do a 13-part version. Its plot is described as "eight astronauts from five countries who take on a mysterious six-year mission through the solar system", but is unclear if all six years are in those 13 eps or if they hope it'll run for six years. Either way's good by me. It's called Defying Gravity, which is a crap title so hopefully they'll think of something better.

Also on that link: The Dark Knight nearly breaks $1bn; Joss Whedon discusses more projects in the Dr Horrible vein; Heroes gets simple; and something about Planet of the Apes. Who'd've thought one news item could contain so many interesting bits?