Big Cat Live
1x06 (10/10/08 edition)
Friday 10 October 2008
Films
Quantum of Solace Music Exclusive
Composer David Arnold chats about the score -- including some nice snippets while the orchestra play it -- and briefly touches on the title theme.
Composer David Arnold chats about the score -- including some nice snippets while the orchestra play it -- and briefly touches on the title theme.
Stand-Up
Tim Vine Live (DVD)
The great thing about Tim Vine's act is that he packs a Guiness World Record-breaking 499 jokes into an hour -- so if you don't find one gag particularly amusing there'll be another along in 7 seconds! Of course, if you don't like his style at all then that's pretty meaningless, but hey-ho.
He does songs too, which are more variable; especially the closing number, which is OK but probably the least funny bit of the whole act -- not the best thing to end on then. That said, it is catchy, and is still stuck in my head...
The great thing about Tim Vine's act is that he packs a Guiness World Record-breaking 499 jokes into an hour -- so if you don't find one gag particularly amusing there'll be another along in 7 seconds! Of course, if you don't like his style at all then that's pretty meaningless, but hey-ho.
He does songs too, which are more variable; especially the closing number, which is OK but probably the least funny bit of the whole act -- not the best thing to end on then. That said, it is catchy, and is still stuck in my head...
Fiction
Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again by Frank Miller & Lynn Varley
Book Two
Messy, in much the same way those stupid 'event' books -- like Infinite Crisis or Civil War or 52 -- are messy. It assumes you know who all these characters are, but it's a Batman book, not a JLA or Silly DCU Event book, and while some of them are obvious (Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow...), others aren't. At all. The rest of the time, it feels like it's the work of someone who really wants to emulate the quality of Dark Knight Returns (many of its tropes are still there), but has less style when it comes to both art -- over-huge panels, wasted space, too scratchy, etc -- or story -- it is, as I have said, messy.
Book Two
Messy, in much the same way those stupid 'event' books -- like Infinite Crisis or Civil War or 52 -- are messy. It assumes you know who all these characters are, but it's a Batman book, not a JLA or Silly DCU Event book, and while some of them are obvious (Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow...), others aren't. At all. The rest of the time, it feels like it's the work of someone who really wants to emulate the quality of Dark Knight Returns (many of its tropes are still there), but has less style when it comes to both art -- over-huge panels, wasted space, too scratchy, etc -- or story -- it is, as I have said, messy.
Articles
The 100 Essential DVDs You Must Own
(from Empire Online)
Empire published this a month or two ago but, despite my DVD obsession, I've only just got round to going through it. Debates over inclusions and exclusions aside, there are some disappointing factual errors (Hearts of Darkness was available on DVD long before this piece was written; the UK Buffy sets are not "extras-lite"), but otherwise is as interesting as these lists ever are. I can tell you that I own 69 of them, and of the remaining 31 there are at least a couple that I am never going to bother with.
Studios To Sponsor Oscarcast For First Time
(from Studio Briefing)
For normal people: an "Oscarcast" is the TV broadcast of the Oscars. 2009's ceremony will be the first time trailers for films can be shown during the ceremony. However, they'll be under incredibly strict guidelines: "They can not promote any nominated film, nor any prequel or sequel. Only films that are scheduled to open in April or later in the year can be promoted. Each distributor will be allowed to purchase one 30- or 60-second commercial, and each can promote only one film. They may not have aired prior to the telecast. Only one movie spot can be broadcast during any commercial break. And none of the spots will be permitted to use the terms 'Oscar' or 'Academy Award'." OTT? Expect a slew of Super Bowl-style blockbuster trailers then, as they'll all be out after April and aren't likely to want to invoke Oscar's name.
(from Empire Online)
Empire published this a month or two ago but, despite my DVD obsession, I've only just got round to going through it. Debates over inclusions and exclusions aside, there are some disappointing factual errors (Hearts of Darkness was available on DVD long before this piece was written; the UK Buffy sets are not "extras-lite"), but otherwise is as interesting as these lists ever are. I can tell you that I own 69 of them, and of the remaining 31 there are at least a couple that I am never going to bother with.
Studios To Sponsor Oscarcast For First Time
(from Studio Briefing)
For normal people: an "Oscarcast" is the TV broadcast of the Oscars. 2009's ceremony will be the first time trailers for films can be shown during the ceremony. However, they'll be under incredibly strict guidelines: "They can not promote any nominated film, nor any prequel or sequel. Only films that are scheduled to open in April or later in the year can be promoted. Each distributor will be allowed to purchase one 30- or 60-second commercial, and each can promote only one film. They may not have aired prior to the telecast. Only one movie spot can be broadcast during any commercial break. And none of the spots will be permitted to use the terms 'Oscar' or 'Academy Award'." OTT? Expect a slew of Super Bowl-style blockbuster trailers then, as they'll all be out after April and aren't likely to want to invoke Oscar's name.
"New Products Added"
I hate it when online retailers have sales that they then add new items to.
"New products added!", they proudly proclaim. But do they have a section where you can see these new products? No.
So if you trawled through the sale first time round, just in case they happened to have something worthwhile that you didn't already own at a worthwhile price, you now have to trawl through the whole thing again, just in case something they added is something worthwhile that you don't already own at a worthwhile price.
Which isn't very worth your while, if you ask me.
"New products added!", they proudly proclaim. But do they have a section where you can see these new products? No.
So if you trawled through the sale first time round, just in case they happened to have something worthwhile that you didn't already own at a worthwhile price, you now have to trawl through the whole thing again, just in case something they added is something worthwhile that you don't already own at a worthwhile price.
Which isn't very worth your while, if you ask me.
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