Current Watching

[dalliance]

Current Watching

I suppose the thing she went through with the guys when she was a teenager was the reason for her departing in the first place. The plot needed an urbanised outsider to try to break up the incestuous cabal of intertwining interests and narrow minds.

Either that or it was a way to try and disguise her pretty mangled attempt at an accent! At least Peter Mullan doesn't even try to be anything but broad Glaswegian.

[Amor de Cosmos]

Current Watching

I didn't think her accent was too bad, but then I'm no expert.

It took me until episode four to figure out who Holly Hunter was playing however. I guess I haven't seen her in anything for awhile. She's part of a restrained Gothik quality the production has which is deftly done. More emphatic and the whole shebang might have ended up like the realtor in the lake.

[axel]

Current Watching

Interesting choice, that Zidane movie with Mogwai soundtrack is on BT Sport tonight with Steve McManaman intro. Wonder if he is a big fan?

[Slightly Brown]

Current Watching

Just saw Rush.

Hmm. or should that be hhhhhrrrmmmm.

Odd film: it was like half of it was directed by a genius, and then the other half was helmed by simpleton-day-release-what's-this-shiny-thing? director.

As a story, it's as cloth-eared as you'd want: "YOU MAY LIVE OUTSIDE ZAY ROOLS, BUT I AM THE DIRECT OPPOSITE OF YOUR CHARACTER AND ZERFOR LIVE WTHIN ZA ROOLS!"

But the track-side direction is superb* and the acting is brilliant (given that they are archetypes for most of the film).

It could have been wonderful. I'd still recommend it, though.

*before I went I was wondering how they would render a race to make it feel fresh and interesting, giving the all-pervading nature of current F1 coverage: they did it eye-on-the-thigh wonderfully.

[dalliance]

Current Watching

Just watched the opening episode of BBC's Peaky Blinders which is running on Saturday evenings at the moment. Really, really promising I thought; an interesting premise, a good cast and its recreation of 1919 Birmingham is visually sumptuous.

[Amor de Cosmos]

Current Watching

Yes, it's kind of a Brum version of Boardwalk Empire I think. Like Copper/Hell on Wheels they cover exactly the same periods. Pretty soon it'll be possible to run comparative history courses using TV dramas.

[nmrfox]

Current Watching

Anybody else watching Dave Gorman: Modern Life is Goodish on Dave? The title pretty much says it all; its goodish without being brilliant. Thought his Are You Dave Gorman? and the Googlewhack stand-up shows were excellent but he seems to be one of those comics/stand-ups who don't seem to translate over to TV too well.

And he's habit of saying "And we'll talk about that after this short break" is very annoying.

[dalliance]

Current Watching

Yes, it's kind of a Brum version of Boardwalk Empire I think. Like Copper/Hell on Wheels they cover exactly the same periods. Pretty soon it'll be possible to run comparative history courses using TV dramas.

Yes, based roughly around real events too. It's based in an interesting period post WW1 and it's got a pretty sound premise. Cillian Murphy is very good and I've always been a big fan of Sam Neill.

I take it you have seen this?

[Amor de Cosmos]

Current Watching

Yes, the first four episodes.

It's got more interesting as it's gone on. The Irish/Romany connections are fascinating, though I'm in no position to judge how accurate they are. I'm a big Sam Neill fan too — he's an actor who doesn't appear to have had a middle age. He's leapt from from mid-30s to 60+ in a single bound

I agree that the look of of the production, in detail is great. I think Mad Men (particularly) has raised the bar on period art-direction in general. One thing I would fault Peaky Blinders for in that regard, is that it's all much too clean. I don't know Birmingham, but I remember Sheffield in the 1950s and it was filthy. Smoke, soot, grime everywhere. I realise exteriors are difficult, and expensive — Mad Men almost totally avoids them, and Boardwalk Empire's Atlantic City is a calculated facade, as was the original — but the central streetscape, which is used repeatedly, lacks the noisome grittiness. Otherwise though it's first rate.

What's your opinion on the choice of music?

I think Mr Voorhees would really like this series BTW

[ian.64]

Current Watching

Lewis

I'm normally not too keen on crime mysteries, but I'm finding these watchable, and the 'grumpy dad - sarky, yet dutiful, slightly affectionate son' partnership of Kevin Whately and Laurence Fox is a treat to watch. Sunday nights, couple of cans, perfect.

[Slightly Brown]

Current Watching

ian.64 wrote: Lewis

I'm normally not too keen on crime mysteries, but I'm finding these watchable, and the 'grumpy dad - sarky, yet dutiful, slightly affectionate son' partnership of Kevin Whately and Laurence Fox is a treat to watch. Sunday nights, couple of cans, perfect.

Yeah, I agree, Ian -it's perfect Sunday night TV. The plots are interesting enough, without being Byzantine brain-torturers. Their interplay is fantastic, too, albeit be it from the gentler end of the spectrum.

[ian.64]

Current Watching

Slightly - I think the key word is 'gentle', but in the best sense. I don't think I could take a gloomy, agonising, blood-spattered murder mystery before the working week begins. Lewis treads the fine line that makes it perfectly easy on the senses without falling into harmless banality.

[KGR]

Current Watching

nmrfox wrote: Anybody else watching Dave Gorman: Modern Life is Goodish on Dave? The title pretty much says it all; its goodish without being brilliant. Thought his Are You Dave Gorman? and the Googlewhack stand-up shows were excellent but he seems to be one of those comics/stand-ups who don't seem to translate over to TV too well.

And he's habit of saying "And we'll talk about that after this short break" is very annoying.

Not as annoying as the fact that, when he returns from one of thsoe too-regular short breaks, he has to remind us what has come earlier. I absolutely despise that about modern tv.

Producers: We're not all so stupid that we need a recap on what we were enjoying before advertising interrupted us.

[dalliance]

Current Watching

I agree that the look of of the production, in detail is great. I think Mad Men (particularly) has raised the bar on period art-direction in general. One thing I would fault Peaky Blinders for in that regard, is that it's all much too clean. I don't know Birmingham, but I remember Sheffield in the 1950s and it was filthy. Smoke, soot, grime everywhere. I realise exteriors are difficult, and expensive — Mad Men almost totally avoids them, and Boardwalk Empire's Atlantic City is a calculated facade, as was the original — but the central streetscape, which is used repeatedly, lacks the noisome grittiness. Otherwise though it's first rate.

What's your opinion on the choice of music?

The bold use of outdoor shots is pretty commendable and there are some wonderfully luxurious wide camera pans over the impressive CGI smoky industrial landscapes. The cinematography is fascinating actually and a lot of it feels like its being shot through one of these old camera filters. The mock execution scene at the side of the canal with the Italians observing was weirdly beautiful with exaggerated browns and greens and yet the rest of the scene quite monochromatic. It all looks very lush indeed. I take your point on the main residential street though.

It's good news that it's a grower too as I'm really gripped by it midway through the second episode.

When a couple of minutes into the opening episode Red Right Hand struck up I was taken aback for a second or two. Using contemporary music when those initial scenes had gone a long way to establishing a really authentic visualisation of 1919 seemed odd, but the Nick Cave and Warren Ellis stuff, along with the couple of White Stripes tracks and I think a Raconteurs song I have heard so far work well in capturing the simmering tension and aggression of the piece.

[ian.64]

Current Watching

Not as annoying as the fact that, when he returns from one of thsoe too-regular short breaks, he has to remind us what has come earlier. I absolutely despise that about modern tv.

Producers: We're not all so stupid that we need a recap on what we were enjoying before advertising interrupted us.

Or indeed given a virtual menu of what follows in the next part of the programme, even if it's just a matter of moments away. That's it though: producers think we are so stupid as to need both a recap of what's just gone and a reminder of what's coming up. We are sheep that need to be rounded up and directed into our pens of contentment.

[Pietro Paolo Virdis]

Current Watching

ian.64 wrote: Not as annoying as the fact that, when he returns from one of thsoe too-regular short breaks, he has to remind us what has come earlier. I absolutely despise that about modern tv.

Producers: We're not all so stupid that we need a recap on what we were enjoying before advertising interrupted us.

Or indeed given a virtual menu of what follows in the next part of the programme, even if it's just a matter of moments away. That's it though: producers think we are so stupid as to need both a recap of what's just gone and a reminder of what's coming up. We are sheep that need to be rounded up and directed into our pens of contentment.

You don't think that's more to do with filling a 50min spot with 25min of actual filming?

[ian.64]

Current Watching

Could be. After all, there are shows (reality, usually) on prime-time that are 90 mins long, sometimes. As if producers ever thought that kind of shit was worth taking up the slot usually filled by a feature film. 90 mins of useless shallow vessels showing us their non-existence talent for breathing and talking? Yeah, I'm game.

[Amor de Cosmos]

Current Watching

The cinematography is fascinating actually and a lot of it feels like its being shot through one of these old camera filters.

Yes, it does have a kind of sickly, antique yellowness. Like looking through isinglass. Effective, I agree. But, for me, the set needs a coating of graphite dust or something.

For an inner city in the 20s the streets are also surprisingly depopulated don't you think? I know everyone running for cover when the Peaky Blinders, or police, show up, makes a dramatic point, but I can't help thinking it's overplayed. Also would shop-floor union meetings, with about ten people in attendance, really have warranted a large scale crack-down?

It does all work though, like the music — and my response to that was similar to yours — on a kind of magic realist level. I should probably just go with it and stop looking for Mike Leigh.

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

Current Watching

Pietro Paolo Virdis wrote:

Not as annoying as the fact that, when he returns from one of thsoe too-regular short breaks, he has to remind us what has come earlier. I absolutely despise that about modern tv.

Producers: We're not all so stupid that we need a recap on what we were enjoying before advertising interrupted us.

Or indeed given a virtual menu of what follows in the next part of the programme, even if it's just a matter of moments away. That's it though: producers think we are so stupid as to need both a recap of what's just gone and a reminder of what's coming up. We are sheep that need to be rounded up and directed into our pens of contentment.

You don't think that's more to do with filling a 50min spot with 25min of actual filming?

the best examples of these are the shows from america that do this five times in a programme when there's only three adbreaks over here. It makes for some extraordinarily infuriating watching

[ian.64]

Current Watching

You don't think that's more to do with filling a 50min spot with 25min of actual filming?

Actually, thinking about it, I'll stick with my original opinion, however ill-thought out it may look (World: "No change there!")

[dalliance]

Current Watching

I notice this a lot on Gordon Ramsey's American shows, Kitchen Nightmares and Hotel Hell. At the beginning of the show there's a lengthy sequence showing dramatic, rapid flashes of some of the issues that Gordon will face tonight. Before every commercial break there's a when you come back sting trailing a cut down version of the same thing and when you do come back after the break there's a recap of everything Gordon has experienced so far.

You could technically join the programme for just the past part, get the recap and watch the denouement and save yourself 45-50 minutes. I think it's a genuine stylistic approach rather than an attempt to have to film less. These programmes will come away with several hundred hours of footage for a single show anyway and it doesn't make much difference if you cut that down to 32 minutes of television rather than 38 minutes.

[Mumpo]

Current Watching

You'll love this.

[Slightly Brown]

Current Watching

Presumed Innocent is on. I've seen this about four times, all at this time of night. It's therefore a good barometer of how my brain has changed. I now see:

A)what a clumsy lover Ford is (his Pat Jenning's hands nearly flap Greta Scacchi off the desk and out the window, only her dance training saving the scene);
B) how thin Ms. Scacci's top lip is;
C) that Mr Ford's haircut is actually that bad;
D) how brilliant the twist is;
E) how I miss Raul Julia and Brian Dennehy.

Good suits too.

[ian.64]

Current Watching

Point E is particularly valid.

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

Current Watching

dalliance wrote: I notice this a lot on Gordon Ramsey's American shows, Kitchen Nightmares and Hotel Hell. At the beginning of the show there's a lengthy sequence showing dramatic, rapid flashes of some of the issues that Gordon will face tonight. Before every commercial break there's a when you come back sting trailing a cut down version of the same thing and when you do come back after the break there's a recap of everything Gordon has experienced so far.

You could technically join the programme for just the past part, get the recap and watch the denouement and save yourself 45-50 minutes. I think it's a genuine stylistic approach rather than an attempt to have to film less. These programmes will come away with several hundred hours of footage for a single show anyway and it doesn't make much difference if you cut that down to 32 minutes of television rather than 38 minutes.

Why watch gordon Ramsay when you could watch this instead.

or this

Here it is again and again and again in slow motion