TV

...sings The Beatles
Culled from the BBC's extensive archives, a selection of Beatles covers from across the decades. They ranged from truly great to truly bizarre, but at least were never less than interesting -- just like the group being covered then.

The Beatles On Record
A rather nice documentary (as in good, not saccharine), covering the Beatles' work album by album. It largely leaves aside the oft-covered hype and media reaction that permanently surrounded them, and instead focuses solely on the music, a surprisingly rare occurrence for such a documentary. Another welcome rarity is the choice of narrators: the only voices we hear (aside from the odd reporter or somesuch) are the Beatles themselves, plus producer George Martin. No other voiceover narration to guide us through the 'story', no semi-qualified semi-famous (for now) people offering their semi-interesting opinion (and that's being generous) -- just the Beatles themselves, looking back on their own work. It's this undiluted, well-informed focus that makes this such a worthwhile effort.

See also the BBC's Beatles Week page.

FlashForward
1x02 White To Play
Fans of 24 with a good memory for the names of guest stars may've had fun with this episode. Not wishing to give too much away, but the actor in question was excellent at a similar role in 24, so that bodes well here. As does the developing mysteries, though the constant reminders and flashbacks of things we've already seen are too heavy-handed. Please, FlashForward writers, assume your audience has some memory.
[Watch it (again) on Demand Five.]

House
5x12 Painless
It's funny: in the early days of House most of the regular characters were a tad bland and even add to differentiate, with the clinic patients and Mystery Ailment Of The Week providing most of the humour and drama. Now, however, the 'main' plot takes a backseat (in the interest stakes at least) to the developing character arcs. This isn't a criticism, just an observation -- House now is a surprisingly different show to the one it started out as.

new review at 100 Films

Predator 2 (1990)

It’s a bit like all the time, effort and money went on creating a good lengthy climax, then any-old hour-long urban crime movie was bolted on the front to create something feature-length. In fairness there are some good bits earlier on, but the final half-hour (or so) feel like it’s from a slightly different, slightly better movie.

Read the full review at 100 Films.

Tonight, I'll post a review of Alien vs. Predator, and tomorrow, one for Aliens vs Predator: Requiem.

TV

Emma
Part 1 (of 4)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Harper's Island
1x09 Seep
1x10 Snap
Well, that has to be one of the least-surprising Great Big Twists ever attempted. The main thing to wonder is: how's there another three episodes' worth of plot left?
Cunningly, the BBC have got around the odd-number-of-episodes-in-double-bills conundrum by airing a behind-the-scenes special before episode 11. One has to wonder if it would've been better placed before episode 13, but there you go.
[Watch Seep and Snap (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

House
5x09 Last Resort
5x10 Let Them Eat Cake
5x11 Joy to the World
It's funny seeing House do clinic duty in Joy to the World -- his enforced clinic hours used to be such a major part of the show, and one of its best sources of humour, that putting him back there for a bit this episode just reminds you what's lost. These days, I suppose, it's been replaced by the detailed story arcs afforded to almost every regular character.
Also nice to see was the criticism of America's wealth-based healthcare system in Last Resort, which is also one of the best House episodes ever for reasons far too numerous to list.
(For those interested (but also somehow missed it...), season six started on Sky1 tonight. At my current rate I should be caught up in time for episode two, as planned.)

How I Met Your Mother
1x20 Best Prom Ever

Last Chance to See
Part 3 Aye-Aye
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Shadow of the Vampire (2000)
[#56 in 100 Films in a Year 2009]
Recorded from BBC Four, who appear to have cut seven minutes out of the middle -- it was that much shorter than the listed PAL running time and the ending didn't make much sense. That said, the only detailed plot description I could find didn't mention anything I hadn't seen, so who knows?

Fiction

Dean Koontz's Frankenstein - Book Three: Dead and Alive by Dean Koontz
Chapters 12 - 18

Asides and little details are all well and good for fleshing out a world and its characters, but you do have to wonder if the reader really needs whole chapters like the one describing an obscure, little-known restaurant and what two characters eat there while waiting around for something to happen. Of course, said restaurant and/or said food may be of importance later, rendering this as important foreshadowing or set-up rather than time-wasting, pointless detail, but unfortunately I don't think such usefulness is guaranteed.

Presumably such unrelated asides spring from Koontz feeling the need to regularly remind his reader about each of the half-dozen (or so) plot threads he has running currently, even if there's nothing to report from that particular thread yet. But perhaps he'd be better off trusting the reader to remember the characters until they actually have a role to play, rather than merely reminding us of their continued existence through an unnecessary bit of nothing, especially when there are several other characters and situations where interesting -- and relevant -- events no doubt continue to unfold.

TV

Derren Brown: The Events - Live
1x04 How to Take Down a Casino [series finale]
Out by just one! That's really rather incredible.
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

House
5x07 The Itch
5x08 Emancipation
Tying one's plot and subplots together thematically may be widely touted as a Good Thing, but it's also possible to do it a little too obviously or a little too much, which seems to be the case with both these episodes. On the other hand, The Itch uses the agoraphobic patient as a metaphor for House's locked-up feelings, whereas Emancipation's brother-accidentally-killing-brother subplot is just a straight-up mirroring of the main plot's eventual reveal.

How I Met Your Mother
1x18 Nothing Good Happens After 2 A.M.
1x19 Mary the Paralegal
How I Met Your Mother messes around with time ever so well. Jumping back 20 hours to show Robin's day in Nothing Good... worked quite well, but the "3 months earlier" thing in Mary the Paralegal is an example of the time-messing-around at its best.

Merlin
2x03 The Nightmare Begins
Nice to see Merlin furthering its arc plots, including bringing back and developing characters from the first season. As well as being good for regular viewers and raising the series above Magician of the Week status, it really gives a feel for the five-year plan the producers have. Even the episode title suggests that things are only just getting under way...
On another note, the music this season seems to have been very heavily influenced by The Dark Knight.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Fiction

Dean Koontz's Frankenstein - Book Three: Dead and Alive by Dean Koontz
Chapters 8 - 11

Articles

The Events by Derren Brown
(from Derren Brown Blog)
Derren apologises for mucking up the casino stunt, but, of more interest to me, reveals that C4's 3D Week is in November. Exciting stuff.

McGann: 'Doctor Who return unlikely' by Mayer Nissim
(from Digital Spy)
This is just disappointing! Someone get your act together and get this man back in the TARDIS! (Properly, on TV.)

TV

House
5x05 Lucky Thirteen
5x06 Joy
"Another life saved by girl-on-girl action."

How I Met Your Mother
1x16 Cupcake
1x17 Life Among the Gorillas

Films

Stranger on the Third Floor (1940)
[#55 in 100 Films in a Year 2009]
Some credit this as being the first ever film noir, but it seems there are numerous exceptions which would cast doubt on such an assertion.

Articles

Frankie Boyle leaves Mock The Week by Mayer Nissim
(from Digital Spy)
Disappointing.

Sutherland: '24 could continue without me' by Mayer Nissim
(from Digital Spy)
Which is what he's been saying since the end of season one. We'll believe it when it happens, Kiefer, and only then.

Worst of the Worst
(from Rotten Tomatoes)
The worst-reviewed films of the '00s (to September 2009, anyway), compiled from Rotten Tomatoes' large pool of critics. I've seen very few of them, fortunately, though that does include the list's #1 film. I won't spoil it if you're intending to read, but it was a surprise to me -- yes, it's undoubtedly a thoroughly awful film, but I'm fairly certain there are many on the list that are much worse.

TV

Charlie Brooker's Gameswipe
One-off special in which Brooker provides what effectively amounts to a Beginner's Guide to Gaming. There's a welcome disdain for the fetishisation of certain genres and their violent content, while continuing to appreciate what's actually good about gaming. Always nice to see Monkey Island turning up anywhere, but my main thoughts on this were how much I agreed with what Dara Ó Briain had to say. That and being rather surprised at just how bloody & gruesome some games are now -- the complaints on the news about the negative impact of games on impressionable minds used to be ludicrous, but I'm not so sure now.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Film 2009 with Jonathan Ross
Episode 16 (29/9/09 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

House
5x03 Adverse Events
5x04 Birthmarks
What an odd feeling to see the old team working together again. One wonders why they're still around -- they have so little to do in almost every episode, and are doing the new leads out of a place in the title credits. Still, while Adverse Events was perfectly adequate, Birthmarks was one of House's better episodes, thematically consistent (all the parent issues) and nicely revealing about its characters (by which I mean the regulars, particularly House and Wilson).

Never Mind the Buzzcocks
23x01 (1/10/09 edition)
James Corden did a pretty good job as the first incumbent of the newly guest-hosted Buzzcocks. Still, no Simon Amstell; but then, who is?
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Fiction

Dean Koontz's Frankenstein - Book Three: Dead and Alive by Dean Koontz
Chapters 1 - 7

The concluding part of Koontz's trilogy finally arrived a few months back, delayed several years in the wake of Hurricane Katrina -- it's set in New Orleans and Koontz felt (not wrongly) that the devastation caused by Katrina made it inappropriate to so quickly publish a novel novel about the destruction of the city by supernatural forces.

The story hits the ground running, very much Part Three of one story rather than the third book in a series. As such, at just 38 pages in it already feels like it's nearing the climax. It'll be interesting to see what Koontz has in store for the next 300+ pages. It also makes few concessions to the gap between publication of instalments -- no "Previously in Frankenstein..." to be found here. That said, the text is littered with little nuggets of information to help jog the reader's memory.

Despite the series' title bearing his name, this is the first book penned solely by Koontz -- though new editions sneakily rob his co-writers (Kevin J. Anderson on Prodigal Son, Ed Gorman on City of Night) of a credit, so one could suspect that originally-announced co-writer Gorman may still have had a hand. Alone or not, Koontz certainly has a way with words and structure that feels superior to most pulp paperback fiction authors, making Dead and Alive pleasant to read for more than just the plot.

(The series also also has an official website, which can be found here.)

Articles

Review of The Invention of Lying by Chris Hewitt
(from Empire)
A surprisingly hostile single-star review of the new Ricky Gervais film from Empire. It doesn't look that bad.

Star Wars – Movie Poster for minimalists
(from Live for Films)
This is a rather nifty minimalist-style poster for Star Wars. The gallery linked to features 14 more. Unfortunately, at least 12 of them aren't very good.

new review at 100 Films

High Society (1956)

Despite being adapted from an acclaimed play and film, the plot feels like a relatively slight contrivance to link together a couple of songs and some farcical humour with a romance-based thread. That the right people end up together is no surprise — so little surprise, in fact, that the story doesn’t even bother with such trivial things as making the final entanglements come together believably.

Read the full review at 100 Films.

There are currently 14 films in the review pipeline at 100 Films. As ever, updates here as and when they're posted.

TV

House
5x01 Dying Changes Everything
5x02 Not Cancer
I didn't have Sky1 when they started showing House earlier this year; I do now. So with the discovery that they're rolling straight on into season six this Sunday, it's time for an almighty season five catch-up. (There's no way I'll get it done for ep1, but I can aim for ep2.)
Thanks to Five letting it go, it's been an awfully long time since I've watched House (nearly 16 months, in fact) -- it almost feels a little odd to have it back. The Cases of the Week are still as disposable as usual, even when one features Felicia Day, but House's antics with Wilson -- and an excellent new private investigator character -- more than make up for the shortcomings.

Articles

John Barrowman talks Who, Torchwood by Neil Wilkes & Chris Allen
(from Digital Spy)
Normally I hate video interviews on sites -- I'd rather skim a transcription than sit through a five-minute video for 30 interesting seconds, thanks -- but these fifteen minutes with Mr Barrowman are packed with interesting stuff. He's one busy man.

Primeval recommissioned for two series
and
Primeval boss talks renewal, future by Neil Wilkes
(from Digital Spy)
What... but... This makes no kind of logical sense! Still, well done on the producers for securing such an extraordinary deal. I wonder if they'll be wise enough to end series five with a proper conclusion...

TV

The Choir: Boys Don't Sing
Part 5 Revisited
A "one year later" follow-up (come series recap, it must be said) of the second of Gareth Malone's projects.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Friday Night with Jonathan Ross
17x04 (25/9/09 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Harper's Island
1x07 Thrack, Splat, Sizzle
1x08 Gurgle
Much like its elaborate title, Thrack... is all filler no killer, despite being flashback-filled to the day of the original Wakefield murders. Not only are these largely unnecessary, if inevitable, but the late-20s cast struggle to look convincing as their teenage selves. Great cliffhanger though, which helps kick off a new phase of the series in Gurgle. Plot developments may still be rare, but at least there's excitement in the meantime. One positive of so little being revealed each episode is that, despite the show's numerous flaws, it always leaves you desperate to see what happens next.
[Watch Thrack, Splat, Sizzle and Gurgle (again) on iPlayer.]

Would I Lie To You?
3x08 (28/9/08 edition) [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

FlashForward
1x01 No More Good Days
The latest big thing from the US -- aka "The New Lost" -- commences on Five just four days after it premiered in the US.
It's a solid start -- better than Lost's for my money -- with lots of mysteries set in motion, already the hints at where answers may come from, and some stunning visuals alongside it. The dialogue may lack the sparkle of the best programmes and the characterisation isn't exemplary either, but then neither Lost nor similar former-big-hit Heroes ever managed those things either. Besides which, this is a 45-minute pilot, tasked with setting in motion an incredibly complex set of events that's got to feed at least the rest of this season and, if the creators have their way, another six after that.
Signs are good though, so fingers crossed this can deliver, in the way Lost apparently has for its fans, rather than sink into mediocrity, a la Heroes.
[Watch it (again) on Demand Five.]

How I Met Your Mother
1x15 Game Night

Last Chance to See
Part 2 Northern White Rhino
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]