Chimpomatic

Phoo Action

Pilot

BBC Three

London, 2012. The city’s under siege from a gang of mutants, lead by an evil dude with a basketball for a head, who are plotting to convert Prince Harry and Wills to their cause after offing the Queen. Terry Phoo (Eddie Shin) zips in from Hong Kong to help out Police Chief Benjamin Benson (Carl “Apollo Creed” Weathers) with the case, and accidentally hooks up with Benson’s adopted daughter Whitey Action (played by Jaime “Ray’s daughter” Winstone). There's even room for a cameo from Hong Kong cult star Richard Ng as Phoo's TV-loving zen monk master.

It’s based on Jamie “Tank Girl/Gorillaz” Hewlett’s strip Get The Freebies which ran in The Face during the 1990s, with a script by Jess “Spaced” Hynes, Matthew Enriquez Wakeham and Peter Martin.

This is the goofiest thing that’s been on TV for years. It’s infused with the spirit of everything from Batman to Monkey, the Banana Splits (three of my favourite all-time shows), even a bit of Young Ones anarchy. Unlike so many grey British shows, it feels like it’s in total Technicolor, packed with little details like daft news blips running across the screen too fast for you to read and Freebies cereal packets. And even though it’s done with a lot of care and attention to detail, it doesn’t take itself too seriously at all, with car chases obviously filmed against a greenscreen, comedy kung-fu punch-ups, and the odd scene where everyone spontaneously springs into a choreographed dance.

Having caught up on some of the Batman repeats on BBC4 recently, I've been struck by how much fun they are - both to watch, and also to make. It's all so much freer than stuff is now, formulaic and not exactly demanding, sure, but also totally entertaining and good-natured.

It’s running as the first of six pilots from BBC3’s February relaunch – apparently only one is going to get picked up, which is a shame as they all look like they’ve got potential. This is getting the Chimp vote so far – great to see a BBC3 show that doesn’t involve potato products or beer-related humour.

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29th Jan 2008 - 6 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

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Best of 2007

chimp71

Top 5 albums
1 Radiohead - In_Rainbows
Just instantly sounded better than everything I'd heard for months - and for once in our instant preview/early release/download era, an album felt like an event.
2 Devandra Banhart - Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon
Love the 70s laid-back vibe here, traversing rock, folk and tropicalia effortlessly.
3 LCD Soundsystem - Sound Of Silver
Beyond the hipster hype, an album with something to say, and a fresh way of saying it.
4 Wilco - Sky Blue Sky
Warm rock, the perfect soundtrack to a snow-bound expedition. Great solos too.
5 Kings Of Leon - Because Of The Times
They disappointed live, but any album that kicks off with a good 7 minutes of slow-burning driving music is a winner round these parts.

Runners Up:
Justice - +
Demented production, great inventive dance/pop that felt like it could only have been released in 2007.
Brazil 70
OK, it's a compilation of post-Tropicalia freak-outs from 70s Brazilian, but most of it was new to me this year.
Burial - Untrue
Intriguing dubstep with soul
Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
Bit like eating a whole chocolate cake after a while, but still great in small chunks.

Top 5 gigs
1 The Rolling Stones - A Bigger Bang - The O2 August 26
They still rule. Billed as the last-ever tour too, glad to have finally caught them.
2 Prince - 3121 - The O2, August 31
Unstoppable showmanship, amazing guitar, huge catalogue of hits to draw on.
3 Wilco - Shepherd's Bush Empire, May 20
Possibly even better live than on record.
4 Beastie Boys - Brixton Academy, September 4
Good to see the BBs again, still got the skills to pay the bills.
5 Black Mountain - Cargo, December 5
Great introduction to a band I'd only heard on one track before - might have been higher in this list if I'd been able to sing along more.

Also: Cornelius/Matmos - Royal Festival Hall
Laptops, psychedelia, rock-outs and pure pop. RFH refurb works too.
The Vitamin Trip reunion, Joyce Is Not Here, September, Hong Kong
Just about pulled it all together again after ten years.

Top 5 films
1 Inland Empire
Unhinged Lynch. Not sure there's anywhere for him to go after this, but it's hard to beat for showing the extremes of cinema possibility; great performance from Laura Dern too.
2 The Lives Of Others
Brutally sharp in its dissection of recent state madness, and the ways people surprise and disappoint.
3 Superbad
McLovin!
4 Knocked Up
Great way to play both sides of the romcom gender split.
5 Disturbia
Enjoyed the tight scale and execution of this MySpace generation Rear Window.

Runners Up:
2 Days In Paris
Night Of The Sunflowers
Zodiac
Smokin' Aces
The Bourne Ultimatum

Most Disappointing threequel - Shrek The Third
Sucked as much as the first two rocked.

Top 5 tracks
1 Seahorse - Devendra Banhart
2 Bodysnatchers - Radiohead
3 Dear Dead Friends - Von Südenfed
4 Keep the Car Running - Arcade Fire
5 505 - Arctic Monkeys

Plus:
Ghost Ship - Menomena
Ponytail - Panda Bear
I Got Lost - Dinosaur Jr
Tenderoni - Chromeo
Love Your Man, Love Your Woman - The Broken Family Band
Veni Vidi Vici (Diplo Mix) - Black Lips
I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance - Black Kids
Is There A Ghost? - Band Of Horses

Top 5 TV shows
1 The Wire - FX/HBO
Just gets better and better. Does it really have to be the last series next time round?
2 Heroes - Sci-Fi/BBC2/NBC
Took a while to put everything in place, but this was one of the most fun shows around this year.
3 Entourage - ITV2/HBO
Vince and the gang are on a roll.
4 Flight Of The Conchords - BBC4/HBO
Jokes? Present. Songs? Present. Something new worth quoting.
5 30 Rock, Five/NBC
Didn't think this would be as funny as it is - Alec Baldwin's timing is great.

Runners Up:
Party Animals - BBC2
Lead Balloon - BBC2
Saxondale - BBC2
Comics Britannia - BBC4
Californication - Five
Five Days - BBC2
The Sopranos - E4/HBO
South Park - Paramount/Comedy Central

#Music
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20th Dec 2007 - Add Comment - Tweet

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Brasil, Brasil

3 part documentary

Another great music series from BBC4 running through the cultural history of Brazil from bossa nova in the 50s, to tropicalia in the 60s, up to baile funk and the re-emergance of samba recently.

From the first episode, it's clear they've got most of the heavyweights on board here - Gilberto Gil, (now Minister of Culture); Pele, Caetano Veloso; Bebel Gilberto; Joyce; Seu Jorge. Plus some excellent footage of everyone from Os Mutantes to Carmen Miranda, Jorge Ben, Joao Gilberto, Tom Jobin etc playing.

It's a cliche that Brazilians are as into their music as they are football - but what's amazing here is learning how the government tried to use it to unify a huge country, and then cracked down when the tropicalia generation proved too radical for the fascist regime.

Highly recommended viewing for anyone wanting to expand their knowledge beyond Girl From Ipanema (which still sounds great btw).

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7th Nov 2007 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

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Cape Wrath

Pilot

Channel 4

Promising opener for this new 7-part C4 drama. David Morrissey stars as the father of a family who move to a suburban gated community looking to make a new start. Soon transpires the gates aren't always open, and the plot thickens...

Stylishly done, it's a decent riff on witness protection schemes, that manages to steer just the right side of "dark/weird/ooh what's going on in this apparently normal cul de sac" plot without getting too wacky.

With Felicity Jones, Harry Treadaway, Lucy Cohu, Tom Hardy, Nina Sosanya, Melanie Hill and Don Gilet. Starts 10th July, C4, 10pm; already showing in the States as Meadowlands

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28th Jun 2007 - 6 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

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Lead Balloon

Episode One

Surprised by how much I enjoyed this new Jack Dee sitcom. Very much working on the Curb Your Enthusiasm model - grumpy stand-up comedian dealing the tedium of modern life - but it's hard to think of a UK comedian who can do grumpy as well. Got that verite feel too, no soundtrack, script is tight, he's constantly trying to get out of awkward situations with a patient wife slightly bemused by him etc etc. Doesn't quite hit the "you fucking fuck Larry" level yet, but it's promising stuff. Hoping it's going to be as good as BBC4's other excellent sitcom The Thick Of It.

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28th Sep 2006 - 9 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

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Low Winter Sun

Two-part Thriller

Decent two-part thriller on C4, that follows bad cops Mark Strong and Brian McCardie as they off one of their colleagues and then head up the investigation into the crime themselves… Worth catching.

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31st Aug 2006 - 2 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

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