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.