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Top Boy
Utterly outstanding, multi-stranded British urban drama. Beautifully shot, written and acted. Catch it on 4OD.
6th Nov 2011
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RIP: Jimmy Saville
RIP Jimmy Saville, 1926-2011. An incomparable personality.
30th Oct 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Trailer Park: Being Elmo
Documentary about Kevin Clash, the man behind (inside) Sesame Street's Elmo [SHOULDN'T THIS COME WITH A SPOILER ALERT? ED]
27th Sep 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Hard Time(s)
Looks like Fugazi's Brendan Canty and Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore have been supplementing their income - both working on (amongst others) the documentary series Hard Time for Nat Geo. Thurston provides narrations, Bredan provides the score...
15th Sep 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Jim'll Fix It: Galactic Picnic
Someone has unearthed a borderline creepy episode of Jim'll Fix It, where a young kid gets to visit Luke Skywalker on the set of Dagobah.
I love Empire as much as the next guy, but looking back at it from this perspective there's a lot of goofy comedy in there. Just sayin'....
Via AICN
9th Sep 2011 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Dinner For Five
The show never really made it over here in the UK (was showing on the Film 24 channel), but Jon Favreau's Hollywood-insider show Dinner For Five makes for an interesting watch, with many episodes on YouTube. Kevin Smith hosts the episode above, with Jason Lee, Stan Lee, Mark Hamill and JJ Abrams shooting the breeze.
See Will Ferrell and Eddie Izzard amongst the guests in the clip below.
17th Aug 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Jeff Bridges and The Abiders
Fun piece up at AICN documenting Jeff Bridges' musical appearance on legendary TV show Austin City Limits.
UPDATE: Rolling Stone have a live session with the band.
14th Aug 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Rewind: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
thanks to Dr Chimp for reminding us of the excellent intro to the 1979 TV version; the new one's got a lot to live up to, glad to see they haven't modernised it
1st Jul 2011 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Yeaaaaaah Boyyyyy!
Mildly embarrassing mid-80's Beastie Boys promo surfaces on YouTube.
28th Jun 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Boardwalk Empire Season 2 Teaser
Looking forward to the return of Richard Harrow very much indeed.
Via AICN
27th Jun 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Sky Go
update to the Sky Player coming Jul 6 - Sky Go, sounds like it's more iPad friendly etc
21st Jun 2011 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
RIP: Jackass Ryan Dunn
Jackass' Ryan Dunn has died in a non-stunt related car crash in Philadelphia. Always one of my favourites on the show, and a totem for beard appreciators everywhere.
Via BBC
#CSF
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21st Jun 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Beastie Boys Mystery Quiz
Here's a mystery: I was watching a Smiths concert on TV last night, recorded for German TV institution Rockpalast in 1984. As Morrissey and Marr were followed back to their dressing room, I spotted the above Beastie Boys sticker on the dressing room door.
As we all know, the Beasties didn't get anywhere near the mainstream until the build up and release of Licenced To Ill in 1986 - and research shows that they didn't appear on Rockpalast until 1998. A quick Google brought up the video below of them from 1984 (not from Rockpalast, from the Scott and Gary Show), so they were on the radar to some extent and Ad Rock even seems to have a similar sticker stuck on the front of his guitar.
Add your suggested explanation in the comments.
16th Jun 2011 - 2 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Justified
Season 2
Based on Elmore Leonard's character US Marshall Raylan Givens, Justified is proving to be one of the more reliable shows on TV these days. Following the proven formula of the first, season two follows a few stand-alone stories, while slowly building a season arc that comes to a head with a finale spread over the last 3 or 4 episodes. Justified eschews the high-concepts of 24 or Lost and instead concentrates on good story, great character and solid production - as Timothy Olyphant's modern day cowboy marshall clears up wrong doing in redneck America.
While heroes don't come much cooler than Raylan Givens, he's frequently given a run for his money by Good/Bad guy Boyd Crowther. It's a typecast-breaking performance from ex-crony-on-The-Shield Walton Goggins, who plays the flip-side of Givens perfectly - trying his best to stay out of trouble, but just not being able to resist it. The most likeable TV criminal since Stringer Bell.
7th Jun 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
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How To Make It In America
Season 1
HBO
With Entourage winding down after an epic 7 (soon to be 8th and final) seasons, HBO have started to line up it's successor. While the no-money, Lower East Side vibe of aspiring fashion entrepreneurs Ben Epstein and Cam Calderon might seem like a million miles from the valet parking of Vincent Chase's Hollywood, there are many parallels with this East Coast cousin - following the same dreams of success and the high life, just jumping on board at an earlier stage.
Despite the opposing fortunes, lifestyle envy also plays a big part here and while the reality of always being a dollar short might not quite hold the everlasting appeal of having a dollar too much, always knowing the hippest parties and being on first-name terms with every door man in town is something many of us would have loved 15 years ago. Slow motion mixes with flash frame photography and well chosen music to beautifully capture the gritty, exciting world of opportunity of both the Lower East Side and the just-graduated student mentality.
How To Make It In America has that quick-fix vibe that gets you high in 25 minutes and leaves you wanting more. Well-rounded episodes that fly by, but the season arc stays strong and is filled out well with multiple story strands (including a career-best performance from Luis Guzman and Rasta Monsta) all staying as strong as each other, while still building the bigger picture of the show's overall themes and agenda.
Great stuff. Should be back for season 2 later on in 2011.
1st Jun 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
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Escape from the island ....Alcatraz, that is
Trailer up for the new JJ Abrams TV show - Alcatraz. Looks to be positioned somewhere between Lost and Fringe in terms of production quality and originality.
Via AICN
17th May 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Trailer Park: All Watched Over By Machines Of Loving Grace
New tech-paranoia doc from Adam Curtis (Power Of Nightmares), 23 May BBC2
#chimp71
#D.U.D.(DumbUpDudes!)
#Tech
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8th May 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
HBO 2 GO
It's US-only of course, but HBO's new iPad app looks pretty impressive for catching up with your favourite shows from the comfort of your bed/toilet/plane.
Fingers crossed that Sky Atlantic might release something similar. And that it doesn't cost an extra £10 a month.
Via Uncrate
3rd May 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Trailer Park: 500 Days of Community Mash Up
Nice mash-up of chimp-approved US sitcom "Community" and 500 Days of Summer.
Via @JoelMcHale
#CSF
#Film
#Stupido
#TrailerPark
#TV
27th Apr 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Netflix Vs HBO
Netflix seems to be fancying itself as the next HBO, commisioning a remake of 1990 British TV show House of Cards under the guiding hand of David Fincher - and starring Kevin Spacey. The show will initially run exclusively via Netflix's own streaming services late next year. In a show of confidence, they have commisioned two full series up front - 26 episodes. Quite a stretch, considering the original was only four parts.
Netflix already has 20m subscribers, compared to HBO's 28m. If only Love Film was as ambitious.
Via WSJ
29th Mar 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Ad Nauseum: Day V Lately
Anyone who remembers J.R. Hartley from 1983 will get the joke with Yell's mildly nauseating updated commercial, but the campaign goes beyond the TV ad. Check out Day V Lately's website, in all in 1996-era glory. Best viewed in Internet Explorer.
Strange to only aim an ad at the over 28's, but at least Yellow Pages seem to be becoming aware of who might actually use them these days. We have Ask Jeeves now after all.
9th Mar 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Skate or die: The Get By - Skating NYC
In support of last year's New York-set dramedy How To Make It In America, HBO made this nice little film The Get By - documenting the New York skate scene.
The show also features references to a supposed New York skate 'legend' - Wilfredo Gomez ... a film about whom you can see above.
7th Mar 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Trailer Park: Anime X Men
Warren Ellis is supervising a new strand of anime X-Men stories. Can't be worse than X-Men 3. Ain't It Cool has more details
2nd Mar 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Trailer Park: Games Of Thrones
quite like the look of this new epic fantasy show - coming to Sky Atlantic a day after US HBO transmission, Apr 18
24th Feb 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Ad Nauseum: The Psychology of Mad Men
Great article over at the BBC Blogs looking into some of the psychology and thinking behind the advertising boom of the 1950's and 60's.
7th Feb 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
My Morning Jacket v American Dad
weird team-ups of our time: My Morning Jacket on American Dad
24th Jan 2011 - Add Comment - Tweet
Simpsons v Fox News (Taiwan style)
the Next Media animation bots have been at it again: here's their take on the Simpsons clash w Fox News, including an actual shark to jump over
7th Dec 2010 - Add Comment - Tweet
1080p is the VHS of the future
How's that 47", 1080p, Full HD-ready TV working out for you? Nice try, but it's already out-of-date. What you really want is a Super Hi-Vision plasma screen, capable of a resolution of 7680x4320 - 16 x better than 1080p.
OK there is a projector, but while the TV sets don't exist yet (you can use 4 x 4K sets together) the camera does - and the BBC and Japan's NHK just did a test broadcast of a studio session from The Charlatans. Not quite sure how that content decision came about.
The quality is so clear that a special lens had to be built to cope, and much like 3DTV, the format has dictated a shooting style of its own - with a single camera wide-shot being so big and clear that the viewer would be distracted by too much editing and can just cast their eyes around the screen instead.
Watch more at the BBC
16th Nov 2010 - Add Comment - Tweet
Ad Nauseum: Prawns
The land of advertising is a dangerous business. Post-meerkat, a high-concept ad campaign is likely to fall flat on it's face, but drafting in Sgt Elias AKA Willem Dafoe is one way to seal the deal.
Newsflash chimps: Prawns.
8th Nov 2010 - Add Comment - Tweet
Conchords Simpsonized pt2
Featuring Stephen Hawking: "a brief history of rhyme".
6th Oct 2010 - Add Comment - Tweet
Conchords Simpsonized!
Flight of the Conchords are back ....with a cameo in the new season of The Simpsons.
5th Oct 2010 - Add Comment - Tweet
RIP Stephen J Cannell
RIP 80's TV uber-producer Stephen J. Cannell, who has just passed away - most likely after seeing the big screen adaptation of his show the A-Team. His production company logo is a staple of childhood TV.
Via AICN
2nd Oct 2010 - Add Comment - Tweet
True Mud: Sesame Street Takes A Bite Out Of True Blood
do they expect their target audience (you know, 5 year-olds) to get it?! Love the Lafayette dude who walks past at the start
23rd Sep 2010 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
NYT v Murdoch SharkMan!
Taiwan's news animators do it again. wish all news was like this
10th Sep 2010 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
CSI: CSNY
CSI: CSNY "When veteran TV producer Larry Bruckheimer went looking for a new angle for his smoking hot CSI: Crime Scene Investigation franchise he had no idea it would be this good.
After meeting with the members of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young to discuss using some of their music in a future episode, Bruckheimer was surprised when he learned that the Grammy Award winning artists were not only huge CSI fans, but were also all licensed private detectives.
Bruckheimer's creative juices started to boil over. He had an idea."
1st Sep 2010 - Add Comment - Tweet
Rubicon coming to BBC4
BBC4's autumn schedule includes AMC's new 70- style conspiracy thriller Rubicon - heavily influenced by The Conversation, Three Days Of The Condor and other all-time chimp-paraonia classics apparently. looking forward to this one.
25th Aug 2010 - Add Comment - Tweet
The Great Lost Squirrel Baby Mystery
well, some discrepancies over the prop on sale at the recent Lost auction anyhow... via wired
23rd Aug 2010 - Add Comment - Tweet
H.B.O.V.A.
Forget watching any HBO shows legally in the UK unless you've got satellite. Sky has snapped up all of HBO's current and past output, which will become exclusive to the pay-TV channel as current deals expire - for the next 5 years at least.
Scorsese's upcoming Boardwalk Empire looks like a future highlight for the channel, as well as the return of Curb and Bored to Death, but with ITV failing to renew their deal on Entourage and Treme failing to be picked up by anyone yet, Sky is going to be the place you have to go.
With Sky also rolling out their video-on-demand system this looks like a Monopoly-power-play move to add more value to their offering, as they push past the 10,000,000 subscriber mark.
29th Jul 2010 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
This Is England '86
Interesting sequel concept from Shane Meadows - a TV series follow-up to his excellent movie This Is England, set a few years later with the same actors reprising their roles. No big deal maybe, except that star-of-the-show Thomas Turgoose was only 13 in the original and now he's 17. See Channel 4's site for more info.
Although that's got nothing on Richard Linklater's forthcoming movie, which has been 12 years in the making....
23rd Jul 2010 - Add Comment - Tweet
Lost: The New Man In Charge
more details on the bonus materials coming on the Lost S6 boxset - 11 and a half mins of Hurley and Ben running the island after Jack. Dharma snacks for all!
1st Jul 2010 - Add Comment - Tweet
Mad Men 4
Poster out for Mad Men Season 4, which premieres July 25th in the US. Probably not until 2011 on the BBC....
23rd Jun 2010 - Add Comment - Tweet
The Geography of LOST
Nice framed prints available from Image Kind, mapping the geography of the Lost island. Not sure you could find your way home with it, but it might look nice on the wall of your geek den.
Via Uncrate
21st Jun 2010 - Add Comment - Tweet
Kids in the Hall - Death Comes To Town
Death Comes To Town sees the welcome return of 90's comedy legends Kids In The Hall, as the canuckian comedians eschew their traditional scetch show format for a narrative based comedy 'drama'.
Of course it's not that straightforward. The five kids play 90% of the characters in the backwater town of Shuckton, where death has literally come to town. In fact, he's staying at the the No-tell Motel. As the story evolves, we move between a handful of story lines - all revolving around murder in the town. We follow the trial of a 1/16th native suspect, the ascension of the mayors wife, rivalry in the local news crew and sofa-bound former hockey hero Ricky's dodging of death as he's compelled to solve the crime.
There may not be the screaming highlights of the show ("My pen!", Girl Drink Drunk), but it's all solid and full of laughs. Fat, thin, male, female - it makes no difference as the Kids seamlessly blend in and out, building a convincingly ridiculous picture of the intricacies of small town life.
"What's heaven like?"
"It's like Calgary. In the 60's."
18th Jun 2010 - Add Comment - Tweet
Read more 4 star reviewsEat My Gold!
Our old pal Prof. Poliakof (see here for his periodic table of videos) is back in action, this time disputing the claimed solid-gold quality of the FIFA World Cup. FIFA claim the cup is solid gold and weighs 6.175 kg, but by the professor's calculations it would weigh at least 70kg if it was actually 'solid' gold.
Via BBC
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14th Jun 2010 - Add Comment - Tweet