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.]

new reviews at 100 Films

A themed pair of reviews at 100 Films this evening, looking at two documentaries about the Moon missions.

In the Shadow of the Moon (2007)

It may not offer the plain facts and figures of how we went to the Moon and who did it when, but it does present the reflections of the men who risked their lives to further the knowledge and reach of our species.

Read the full review at 100 Films.


For All Mankind (1989)

the glorious footage and skilled editing of Mankind — and the added wonder of seeing it in HD, it must be said — leaves one with a sense of awe that isn’t as present in the more informative Shadow. Its beauty provides the superior experience.

Read the full review at 100 Films.

There are currently 15 further films in the review pipeline at 100 Films. As ever, updates here as and when they're posted.

TV

Last Chance to See
Part 1 Amazonian Manatee
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Secret Millionaire
4x05 Martin Stamp
Some programmes just defy any reasonable attempt you make to give them episode numbers.

Films

Copycat (1995)
[#53 in 100 Films in a Year 2009]

High Society (1956)
[#54 in 100 Films in a Year 2009]

TV

Derren Brown: The Events - Live
1x03 How to Be a Psychic Spy
Derren once again perpetrates a great hoax on the nation -- note the sheer volume of concentric circles on display, not least right behind the 'hidden' picture! Also, the way curator-girly-on-the-TV was lit also made her eyes into very obvious concentric circles, for just one other blatant example we were invited to stare at.
Do I mind that it's just a trick? Not in the slightest -- that's what he does. But some people are now going to toddle off believing it worked, and they really shouldn't.
(Additionally, 4oD seem to be a bit slow at getting stuff online, so last week's episode is now available.)

Merlin
2x02 The Once and Future Queen
Much better than last week's too-generic opener.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Mock the Week
7x12 (24/9/09 edition) [season finale]
I say "season finale" -- episode 13 will air around Christmas.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Red Riding reviews at 100 Films

Last night I posted reviews for all three films in the Red Riding Trilogy over at 100 Films. You can read my thoughts on the trilogy as a whole here (including links to the individual film reviews), or just read film-by-film from the links below.

Red Riding: 1974 (2009)

a stock noir tale, dressed up with fancy filmmaking techniques and claims of realism to look like something more truthful, more real, more Important. And it makes me a little bit angry because of it.

Read the full review at 100 Films.

Red Riding: 1980 (2009)

it’s all too straightforward: the people you suspect did it actually did, as it turns out, and there’s no serious attempt to conceal that.

Read the full review at 100 Films.

Red Riding: 1983 (2009)

builds on previously-seen events and characters... bests its predecessors in almost every assessable value. The story and characters have more genuine surprises and suspense than ever

Read the full review at 100 Films.

There are currently 15 further films in the review pipeline at 100 Films. As ever, updates here as and when they're posted.

TV

The Tudors
3x08 The Undoing of Cromwell [season finale]
Best beheading ever!
Shame there's only one more season to go.
[Watch Episode 8 (or, as the BBC insists, '6') (again) on iPlayer.]

Articles

FlashForward execs 'have ending planned' by Dan French
(from Digital Spy)
Thank goodness for that! I was worried it'd be another show where they make it up as it goes along and we never get any decent answers. I'm now even more keen to see it. (Read the article for a few more details on what these plans actually are, in a totally spoiler-free way.)

Whedon "bitter as hell" over Dollhouse by Dan French
(from Digital Spy)
Not because it's been cancelled or anything, just his thoughts on why they didn't air the final episode of season one in the US.

TV

How I Met Your Mother
1x14 Zip, Zip, Zip

Single-Handed
1x03 The Drowning Man [season finale]
Not Single-Handed's best episode -- the ending/whole second half felt like a letdown after the suspicions and tension built in the first, although the forest scene was stunning (as is all the cinematography in this series) -- but still strong. Fingers crossed for more.
(As noted previously, the series was original screened in Ireland as three two-parters in January 2007, January 2008 and April 2009, but ITV showed them as one series of three films.)

Dr Horrible invades the Emmys

As brilliant as it sounds (and then some):

Though, what's up with Fillion's accent?

TV

Harper's Island
1x05 Twack
1x06 Sploosh
Finally other characters notice that there are murders taking place! It's a good thing BBC Three have chosen to show Harper's Island in double bills, actually, because I think it might feel a tad slow in individual installments.
[Watch Twack and Sploosh (again) on iPlayer.]

How I Met Your Mother
1x12 The Wedding
1x13 Drumroll, Please
Ooh, a two-parter, which I accidentally watched back-to-back. Sometimes fortune smiles upon us. Or, me.

Articles

Best Watchmen Promo Item Ever
(from WatchmenComicMovie.com)
This sounds utterly incredibly and I am insanely jealous of the 1,000 people who have one.

Gilliam’s Watchmen Gripes
(from WatchmenComicMovie.com)
Top director Terry Gilliam, who twice failed to bring Watchmen to the big screen, here criticises the eventual film. Naturally the author of the post lays into Gilliam -- this is a fansite, after all -- failing to acknowledge that Gilliam is ten times the director Snyder will ever be.

Zack Snyder Talks Director’s Cut
(from WatchmenComicMovie.com)
With the 'Ultimate Cut' recently announced, it's nice to remember that it's just "an experiment" and the already-available (in the US anyway) Director's Cut is Snyder's final vision of the film proper.

TV

The Choir: Unsung Town
Part 4 (of 4)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Red Riding: 1983 (2009)
[#52 in 100 Films in a Year 2009]
The final part of the trilogy is the best by some margin, in my estimation.

Magazines

Doctor Who Magazine #413

Featuring The Mighty 200, DWM's reader-voted countdown of the best Doctor Who stories ever (and, indeed, the worst) -- the first time they've done this since 1998, in which time we've had 50-something new stories with Chris Eccleston and David Tennant. Some of the final placings are quite surprising -- I wonder if shops will now have to remove the "No.1 Story Ever" stickers from Genesis of the Daleks DVDs?

Best of all, however, is this observation in closing: "note the awesome symmetry of the stories at either end of the poll being not just from the same season, but actually consecutive. That's Doctor Who all over -- madly diverse, occasionally polarizing, but always surprising."

TV

The Secret Millionaire
4x08 Martin Stamp [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Would I Lie To You?
3x07 (21/9/09 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

How I Met Your Mother
1x09 Belly Full of Turkey
1x11 The Limo
As expected, I was right that I'd missed an episode and it was entirely my fault. Ho hum. A run of three very good episodes though -- and, indeed, so were the ones before them. Given a couple of weeks to settle in, How I Met Your Mother has definitely found its feet.

Walk on the Wild Side
1x05 Episode 5
I had been intending to watch this whole series after it was quite well-reviewed by the Radio Times. But then I didn't. The promise of Wildlife on Mars in this edition spurred me on however. Shame it was rubbish. Much of the rest of the programme was quite good though, ironically. Maybe I'll watch it again in future... except the last one was this week.

Films

Red Riding: 1974 (2009)
[#50 in 100 Films in a Year 2009]
Are they films or are they a miniseries? I shall expound further on this when I post my review (though I think it's obvious which option I'll choose).

Red Riding: 1980 (2009)
[#51 in 100 Films in a Year 2009]

TV

Later... with Jools Holland
35x01 (18/9/09 edition)
See here for my comments on Tuesday's live version of this edition.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Merlin
2x01 The Curse of Cornelius Sigan
Saturday night's second best family drama returns for a new run, with a rather by-the-numbers episode unfortunately. Nothing wrong with it, but it was more mid-season filler than big comeback, sadly. The rest-of-series trailer at the end looked quite good though.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Mock the Week
7x11 (17/9/09 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Tudors
3x07 Protestant Anne of Cleves
Cromwell's downfall looms -- hooray! But Joss Stone seems miscast as the appallingly ugly Anne of Cleeves; not because she can't act, but because she's hardly ugly.
[Watch Episode 7 (or, as the BBC insists, '5') (again) on iPlayer.]

Articles

Video screens hit paper magazines
(from BBC News)
On the one hand, "ooh cool". On the other, it's far from perfect -- read the full article to see all the various flaws with this particular form of video-in-print.

new review at 100 Films

The Right Stuff (1983)

Kaufman leaves the technical aspect of proceedings alone. The various test flights and rocket launches we do see are undoubtedly important set pieces, but they’re not a thorough catalogue of events. Attention is only lavished on the scientific and engineering challenges when it has some direct impact on the characters, and just as often Kaufman is concerned with the family — specifically, the wife — behind the astronaut.

Read the full review at 100 Films.

There are currently 15 films in the review pipeline at 100 Films. As ever, updates here as and when they're posted.

TV

Derren Brown: The Events - Live
1x02 How to Control the Nation
A Toy's Story was classic Derren, the kind of stunt I always enjoy (and by "classic" mean "have seen him do before", of course), while The Giveaway certainly provided its share of amusement -- especially the "particularly suggestible" guy who donated his shoes. And Subject 5 -- whose arms mysteriously floated upwards, to Derren's apparent bemusement -- was most amusing
As for the event itself... well, I didn't get stuck, sadly. Did you?
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

How I Met Your Mother
1x10 The Pineapple Incident
Either I've missed an episode or E4 have skipped an episode. Either way, "oops".

Films

The Right Stuff (1983)
[#49 in 100 Films in a Year 2009]

TV

Desperate Romantics
Part 6 (of 6)
An unusually serious episode to end the series. The final scene's return to comedy, however, may've been misjudged.

How I Met Your Mother
1x07 Matchmaker
1x08 The Duel

Later Live... with Jools Holland
35x01 (15/9/09 edition)
Watched this primarily for Muse (who were great, of course, especially doing United States of Eurasia), but unsurprisingly discovered all sorts of other greatness in the process. Hurrah!
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Tudors
3x05 Problems in the Reformation
3x06 Search for a New Queen
[Watch Episode 6 (or, as the BBC insists, '4') (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Harper's Island
1x03 Ka-Blam
1x04 Bang
...except my recording decided to cut out before the end of Bang, so I'll have to wait 'til Friday's repeat to find out who saved Trish from drowning.
Oh, wait -- I can follow my very own Handy Link and watch it now. (Excluding credits, I missed literally 30 seconds. Wow.)
[Watch Ka-Blam and Bang (again) on iPlayer.]

Would I Lie To You?
3x06 (14/9/09 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

The Choir: Unsung Town
Part 3 (of 4)
So whoever announced this as a three-parter was wrong.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Desperate Romantics
Part 5 (of 6)
Four weeks to the day since I watch the preceding installment of this. That's the problem I have when a series ends -- less incentive to keep up. Still utterly barmy, but fun with it.

How I Met Your Mother
1x06 Slutty Pumpkin

Mock the Week
7x10 (10/9/09 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

new review at 100 Films

Sherlock (2002)

Holmes is recast as a kind of Victorian James Bond, both in terms of his character and the plot structure. It begins with the end of the previous mission, before progressing through various familiar beats, like the villain helpfully explaining his plan and a climactic big shoot-out... except on a much, much, much smaller scale. To add to the effect, Dr Watson is revealed to be “a bit of an inventor” — a Q in the making? Even Holmes himself is not immune: young, dashing, and womanising. Yes, womanising.

Read the full review at 100 Films.

There are currently 15 films in the review pipeline at 100 Films. As ever, updates here as and when they're posted.

TV

Doctor Who: Greatest Moments
Part 3 The Enemies [final episode]

How I Met Your Mother
1x05 Okay Awesome
I never did find out if the late-night repeats were uncut, but this is where I switch to watching them, just in case. Good timing though, because this episode was easily the best one yet: cleverly written, with Character Development and A Message to boot, and, most importantly, very funny.

Articles

Great Movies: The First 100 by Roger Ebert
(from rogerebert.com)
For those who don't know, Ebert does a weekly series of reviews where he highlights the Greatest Movies Ever Made (in his opinion, obviously). Here's a piece he published on reaching the 100th entry in this series, which is actually a beautiful argument for why we should all broaden our filmic horizons. Such things can often be preachy or held back by the author clearly hating the mainstream too much, but not so Ebert, who is well-reasoned and acknowledges that "some of the big hits are good, and a few of them are great". He's simply evangelical about film and a great writer. An inspiring read.

Pirates 4 Sails Stranger Tides by Owen Williams
(from Empire)
I knew the title On Stranger Tides rang a bell -- I'd heard of it being one of the inspirations for The Secret of Monkey Island before. This news makes me a great deal more excited about the film, I must say.

The importance of punctuation 2

TV

Marple
4x02 Murder is Easy
Helluva cast, as always. Not originally a Marple story this, but she was so well integrated you'd never guess. When Marple began, however many years ago now, I wasn't certain it was up to snuff, but it's rather good these days. This was a particularly good one.

Wildly Popular Iron Man Trailer To Be Adapted Into Full-Length Film
Spoof news item from the Onion that can't have failed to escape your attention at some point in the past 18 months or so. I actually watched it in full for the first time today, believe it or not in research for an essay.

Music

The Resistance by Muse
[up to 7th listen]
I don't normally play an album (old or new) this much in such a short period of time, but The Resistance is certainly growing on me. It helps that it starts so well -- by the time I've listened to all the great opening tracks, it's not too hard to just keep going. And, like I say, those ones are growing too. Hurrah!

Articles

De Burgh hits back at gig critic
(from BBC News)
Initially this makes Chris de Burgh sound like an idiot (as usual), but if you read on he becomes quite witty and capable of defending himself. I certainly like him more now.

TV

How I Met Your Mother
1x03 Sweet Taste of Liberty
1x04 Return of the Shirt

Proms 2009
Prom 76 Last Night of the Proms
Don't normally watch the last night of the Proms, but there's a wonderfulness about its pomp & circumstance. I only caught the last half hour and might not have mentioned it, but this year's conductor, David Robertson, an American, made a brilliant speech -- as well as conducting beautifully, of course.
The full programme for this Prom can be read online, for free, here.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Secret Millionaire
4x03 Jennifer Cheyne [season finale]

Music

The Resistance by Muse

Muse's new album, out Monday over here, but thanks to hmv.com's speediness I have it today (hurrah!)

I've avoided listening to any of this 'til I got the album, so despite early track releases, a single last week and televised live gigs featuring some of the tracks, I'd not heard any of it until now. Some of the hype was warranted: album opener and first single Uprising is a stompingly great number, perhaps the disc's best track, though it would have to be run a close second by the Queen-alike United States of Eurasia. Unnatural Selection and Undisclosed Desires also felt strong to me, especially after a couple of listens, as did a lot of the rest that felt likable but oddly lacklustre initially.

However, most hyped of all were the closing tracks, a three-part symphony entitled Exogenesis. So praised are these that some reviews have resorted to giving the album two scores -- one for the whole work, and a higher one just for Exogenesis. Maybe it's a grower, because I found it interesting but middling. A shame, because I often like the pomp of such grand exercises.

Still, I've already listened to the whole CD a couple of times through -- more than I do for most albums so quickly -- and I'm sure I will more, but it's not yet a Black Holes & Revelations-beater as far as I'm concerned.

Articles

Disney announces new Pirates film by Catriona Wightman
(from Digital Spy)
No surprises, but nice to be confirmed. The title -- Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides -- is disappointingly weak though. Thus far only the first one has had a decent subtitle -- ironic, considering they only added one late in the game so that sequels wouldn't just be numbered. Look for On Stranger Tides (the fourth film, in case you'd forgotten the two weaker sequels) in cinemas during Summer 2011.

I Will Not Read Your F***ing Script by Josh Olson
(from Runnin' Scared at The Village Voice)
This has caused quite a stir in certain circles -- not least for the rudeness inherent in the way it's presented (and the original article doesn't censor the swearing in the way I have so helpfully for this ever-family-friendly blog, so be warned) -- but if you stop to read it, Olson (writer of A History of Violence: The Movie) presents his argument very well and, actually, is generally quite right.

TV

Culloden (1964)
[#48 in 100 Films in a Year 2009]

Derren Brown: The Events - Live
1x01 How to Win the Lottery
So, which method do you believe? It seems unlikely that if he really had fixed it he'd explain it on TV. Not only is it a fairly incredible method, but he's just helped the inevitable legal investigation by explaining it in full. But equally, the other method is unlikely to produce such accurate results. Split screen then? It may be so...
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Would I Lie To You?
3x05 (7/9/08 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Articles

Broadway goes macho as Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman open their gritty two-man cop play
(from Mail Online)
A Steady Rain, in which a Brit and an Aussie play an Irish-American and an Italian-American. Ah, acting.

new review at 100 Films

The Knack …and How to Get It (1965)

From the DVD art, the bright and breezy title, and that it stars Frank Spencer, you’d be forgiven for thinking The Knack was a colourful Swinging Sixties sex-com romp. Upon watching it, however, it’s immediately clear it’s nothing of the sort: it begins with a dream/nightmare sequence, complete with horror-esque music, before settling into a style and rhythm more reminiscent of Breathless than Confessions of a Window Cleaner.

Read the full review at 100 Films.

There are currently 16 films in the review pipeline at 100 Films. As ever, updates here as and when they're posted.

TV

How I Met Your Mother
1x02 Purple Giraffe
Essentially The Pilot: Part 2, so still a bit faltering. Hopefully the next episode is where it finds its feet a bit more.

Mock the Week
7x09 (3/9/09 edition)
A whole week behind with the mocking. Oops.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Music

West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum by Kasabian
[3rd listen]
Didn't win the Mercury Prize, but this is still the first Kasabian album (of their three) that I've immediately liked.

TV

As Seen on TV
1x08 Episode 8 [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Derren Brown: The Events - Live
1x00 How to Win the Lottery
So, as promised, Derren predicted all six of tonight's main Lottery numbers as they were announced. Was it camera trickery? Some impossibly clever (literally) averages? Or is he really magic? We'll find out on Friday...

Making Reel History (aka The Making of Culloden)
1996 documentary about Peter Watkins' Culloden, an innovative and influential TV drama. It offers good insight into Watkins' methods and their impact on the community, as well as briefly providing a forum for some of his views on TV and how it has failed as a medium. Despite being in his late 50s at the time, Watkins' thoughts have all the righteous idealism of a much younger man; unfortunately, they're also just as unrealistic and romanticised.
All round a nice little piece, it's a shame it's not included on the (out of print anyway) BFI DVD. Time for a new release methinks? Masters of Cinema -- already home to two of Watkins' films, Punishment Park and Edvard Munch -- would seem the natural place, though I'm sure there are all sorts of nasty copyright things standing in the way.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Wildest Dreams
Part 7 (of 7)
Not that Anna was an undeserving winner, but I do feel sorry for Alan -- he had the worst life to return to. Hopefully he can use this opportunity to find a career as, at the very least, a wildlife cameraman.

Films

Batman (1966)
[#47 in 100 Films in a Year 2009]

Articles

Top 10 Shows That Were Canceled Too Soon by Stefanie Lee
(from TV.com)
Featuring 14 shows. And, based on the intro, they'd like to make it 18, or more -- actually, why isn't it just a "Top 20"?

The importance of punctuation

TV

The Choir: Unsung Town
Part 2 (of 3)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Harper's Island
1x01 Whap
1x02 Crackle
Someone on twitter described this as "soap noir replete with the trappings of the slasher film genre". "Soap noir" is clearly a term they've just made up (when before has a soap ever been noir?), but it's not a bad description in fact. The writing's no better than a US daytime soap, for example, though it's then incongruously shot with all the flair of an above-average director. (I say incongruously -- I bet most viewers wouldn't notice, and if you gave US daytime soaps such good direction they'd suddenly consider those a higher form of drama too.) Additionally, the scenery on display is absolutely stunning, especially in HD. I hope the rest of the series can live up to the direction on display here.
Depending who you believe, Harper's Island is either an on-going series cancelled after just one half-length season, or a 13-part murder mystery that was always intended as a one-off. As they only seemed to start saying this once it was cancelled one would suspect the former, but the very format (because it is indeed a 13-part murder mystery) would seem to suggest just a single season.
One other thing -- be wary of that Wikipedia link up top, it contains bags of spoilers (including a complete character-by-character 'death chart'!)
[Watch Whap and Crackle (again) on iPlayer.]

Mercury Prize Live
I ended up seeing the start after The Choir and thought I may as well watch the whole thing. As you can tell, I'm not really fussed about the Mercury Prize -- indeed, I have no idea who the winner, Speech Debelle, is, and the same goes for the majority of the nominees.

Music

Chinese Democracy by Guns N' Roses
[3rd listen]
Just got the CD of this dirt cheap -- yes I legally owned it as an Amazon MP3 download, but it doesn't feel real 'til there's a disc (as I espoused on here).
Only my third listen to the album all the way through, but individual tracks have received more playtime; most notably I.R.S., of which I'm very fond.

Articles

Curtis to pen Doctor Who episode
(from BBC News)
"Screenwriter and film director Richard Curtis has agreed to write an episode of the new series of Doctor Who, his agent has confirmed."
Well there's a turn-up. I suppose in some respects it shouldn't be so surprising: in 1999, Who's new showrunner Steven Moffat wrote a Doctor Who spoof for Comic Relief, which is run by Richard Curtis, so clearly they have links.
Now it'll be interesting to see if the rest of/any others among Series Five/One's writers are Big Names too, or if it's a selection of the usual suspects.

Man Booker shortlist is announced
(from BBC News)
The article spectacularly fails to mention one of the nominees. "Oops."

TV

How I Met Your Mother
1x01 Pilot
I'd paid no heed whatsoever to this in the past, but with E4 just commencing on a from-the-beginning every-night-of-the-week run and the Radio Times praising it as a good Friends-a-like (and I've always liked Friends) it seemed worth a shot.
As first episode's go it's a pretty good one -- they're always awkward beasts, but it managed a good number of laughs among all the setting up. I certainly liked the 2030-set framing device, an unusually bold conceit for a sitcom. Signs are good then.
It might be worth noting that E4 are reportedly cutting the show to fit their pre-watershed timeslot, however. There's a late-night repeat but I've no idea if that's uncut.

Wildest Dreams
Part 6 (of 7)
Well well well, I always thought she'd win it.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

25 Years of Spinal Tap: Turn It Up To 11
Celebrity fans and people from the music industry discuss what makes This is Spinal Tap so enduringly fantastic. It's certainly more than enough to make you want to watch it again.

Marple
4x01 A Pocket Full of Rye
The new run of mysteries begins, now featuring new Marple Julia McKenzie. I've commented on ITV's odd scheduling of Marple before (so long ago that I can't find the post, what with Blogger's woefully malfunctioning search system) and this is no exception -- it was actually filmed a year or two ago but is only now being shown for the first time.
It's a good'un, with a typically star-packed Marple cast, even if it was missing one of the best bits of Christie adaptations -- the climax where everyone sits round together and the detective explains everything. Who doesn't love those scenes?
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

new review at 100 Films

Dark Floors (2008)

I can’t help but wonder if in trying to be quite clever Dark Floors ultimately alienates the core horror audience who might pick it up; the people who’ll miss their straightforward scares and gratuitous gore and nudity. By so obviously billing it as “The Lordi Movie” and slapping on quite a lurid cover, the marketers have done nothing to suggest the film might actually benefit from the application of some brain power.

Read the full review at 100 Films.

There are currently 15 films in the review pipeline at 100 Films. As ever, updates here as and when they're posted.

TV

Doctor Who: Greatest Moments
Part 2 The Companions

Films

Sherlock (2002)
[#46 in 100 Films in a Year 2009]
aka Case of Evil, aka Sherlock: Case of Evil.

Articles

One giant slip in Bangladesh news
(from BBC News)
"Two Bangladeshi newspapers have apologised after publishing an article taken from a satirical US website which claimed the Moon landings were faked. The Daily Manab Zamin said US astronaut Neil Armstrong had shocked a news conference by saying he now knew it had been an "elaborate hoax". Neither they nor the New Nation, which later picked up the story, realised the Onion was not a genuine news site."
Gotta love The Onion, but love this even more.

TV

Would I Lie To You?
3x04 (31/8/09 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

new review at 100 Films

Sarah Silverman: Jesus is Magic (TV edit) (2005)

Most of her material seems to be an excuse to say extremely rude or controversial things, and in fact often relies on these things being so rude as to provoke laughter just for that... but there’s nothing inherently funny about a rude sentence — it needs a point, be it satire or surrealism or something else. I have no problem with edgy or ‘offensive’ comedy, but this isn’t it.

Read the full review at 100 Films.

There are currently 15 films in the review pipeline at 100 Films. As ever, updates here as and when they're posted.

TV

From the Earth to the Moon
Part Seven That's All There Is
Part Eight We Interrupt This Program
Two different episodes after the rather standard Apollo 11 one. The first is an almost comedic covering of Apollo 12 from the perspective of first-time astronaut Al Bean, while the second takes on Apollo 13 from the perspective of the press. It's as much about the dying days of proper journalism and the birth of tabloid trash as it is that particular mission (a decision made by the production team because of Apollo 13 already having covered that story).

A Night at The Office
For no discernible reason, last weekend BBC Two elected to repeat the whole of The Office season one, mixed in with a selection of interview clips from the creators and fans. Having seen the series a couple of times already, I recorded the whole lot and just fastforwarded to the interviews. It's a shame they didn't just show these as a new 30-minute piece really, because they were quite in-depth and I suspect more people would've watched it as a single piece.
[Watch The Office season one again on iPlayer, complete with all the little interview bits. The BBC Comedy microsite also has additional interview clips.]

Films

Sarah Silverman: Jesus is Magic (TV edit) (2005)
[#45 in 100 Films in a Year 2009]

DVD Extras

Alien Nation extras
A pair of rubbish featurettes and a handful of trailers, that's the lot.

Articles

Gladiator Blu-ray Review by Michael Mackenzie
(from DVD Times)
This has been a pretty big story in the Blu-ray world, but just in case you've missed it this review includes some summaries. Essentially: don't buy Gladiator on Blu-ray, the transfer is appalling. This isn't just bad for this particular film, but damages the reputation of both Paramount's new Sapphire Series and, potentially, Blu-ray as a whole.

TV

Dragons' Den
7x08 Episode 8 [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Articles

Anderson to helm 3D Musketeers by Simon Reynolds
(from Digital Spy)
This baffles me, because it doesn't make any kind of sense. Paul W.S. Anderson -- director of such crappy videogame-to-film flicks as Resident Evil, Mortal Kombat and Alien Vs Predator -- has teamed up with Andrew Davies -- writer of such acclaimed dramas as Pride & Prejudice (1995), Bleak House (2005) and many, many more -- to make a version of The Three Musketeers. And it'll be in 3D.
I think my brain is melting and trickling out my ears...

Tyler releases new Total Eclipse
(from BBC News)
I do like Jim Steinman songs.

Voting change for best film Oscar
(from BBC News)
Essentially, voters now grade all ten films with a mark from one to ten. A sensible decision, as potentially a film could have won with only 10.02% of votes, were voters merely to choose their one favourite.

TV

The Choir: Unsung Town
Part 1 (of 3)
A third series of Gareth Malone trying to set up a choir in an unlikely place, having a much easier time of it than he did in a boys' school.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

From the Earth to the Moon
Part Six Mare Tranquilitatis
Covering Apollo 11 and the first landing on the Moon.

You Have Been Watching
1x08 The 90's: A Warning From History [season finale]
Amusing take on the TV of the '90s, which still seems so recent but (obviously) began nearly 20 years ago.
If every episode of Neighbours featured plot points as mad as a dog having a dream, I'd still watch it.
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]