Tag: television

Analysis, Film & Television Opinion

Life’s Too Short, Revisited (with spoilers)

David Stringer

Spoilers up to S1E6 of Life’s Too Short.
As the show features Warwick Davis playing a fictionalised version of himself, I’ve referred to the character in inverted commas. So, the actor Warwick Davis plays the character ‘Warwick Davis’.
I discuss the use of Davis’ size, and it’s relevance to the plot, but I’m not totally sure what the correct term is, and what’s generally seen as slightly offensive. I’ve used the terms ‘dwarf’ and ‘short person’ – if either of these cause offence, I apologise.

Life’s Too Short aired in the UK in December, and I wrote a review, based on the first two episodes.
After the series finished, I had some thoughts based on the series as a whole that… well, that I didn’t up at the time, based either on being nice or lazy. Take your pick of those two. Having seen adverts for the American airing of the series currently taking place, I’ve decided it could be worth putting finally putting those thoughts down in writing.
You know – for journalistic integrity. Or something like that.

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Comedy

The Phantom Menace? In Three Dimensions? Wow!

David Stringer

I’m going to do something I’ve been planning to for a while – recommend some videos.
I still don’t really know what I’m doing here with the blog, so I’m throwing everything at the wall in the hope that some things stick.

The first is from ‘Honest Trailers’ – they do alternate trailers for films that are…well, more honest.
This is from the 3d release of The Phantom Menace. It’s decent, with one or two good jokes (mainly later on), but not hilarious.

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Film & Television Opinion

Suits vs Eternal Law

David Stringer

This new year I’ve been watching two new lawyer based programmes – the American import Suits, and new ITV and Kudos show Eternal Law.

I’d been putting off watching the beginning of Eternal Law, as the concept of angels acting as lawyers seemed a bit gimmicky, and it was only the involvement of Kudos – creators of Hustle, Spooks and Life on Mars – that convinced me to put aside my reservations.

But Eternal Law fleshes out the concept of angels on Earth well. There’s references to their boss, ‘Mr. Mountjoy’; spotting an image of a friend on stained glass; ‘If that’s the Jehovah’s Witnesses, tell them they’re totally wrong’.
It all adds depth to the world, makes it seem more believable.

Suits is a bit more straight forward – a ‘normal’ law programme, albeit well executed, following a genius dropout with no formal training in the law, but the skills to excel.

I don’t know if this guy’s an angel, but I think he has a slug living in his nose

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Comedy, Film & Television Opinion

The Developing World Throws a Hissy Fit, and I Find Someone Foolish Enough to Publish my Writing

David Stringer

Today I make my triumphant return to The Leaky Wiki.
I cover a speech made at the UN yesterday (why a speech would be made at the UN on a Sunday I don’t know, but give me a bit of leeway here).
Unlike previous entries on The Leaky Wiki, there’s no particular backstory you need to know, just to know what ‘the developing world’ is, and that it seems to me like the people at the UN like to talk. A lot.

Anyway, the story is here:
Developing World Objects To The Label Developing World, Finds it Patronising

And, in a quite exciting piece of news (well it excited me at least, and therefore technically counts as exciting, in a linguistic sense) I’m writing for Den of Geek.
My first piece, a defence of the recent reinterpretations of Sherlock Holmes, has gone up this morning.

Egotism

Plans for 2012

David Stringer

It seems I’ve let things slip a bit on the blogging. I started off relatively well, but fell away after a few weeks – before this post I’d not written since December 9th.

I’ve not just been sitting on my backside staring out the window though – at least not all the time – I’ve been looking into writing for a few different sites.

If I say this is me in real life, will my hit numbers increase?

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Film & Television Opinion

Spoiler Alert

David Stringer

The following contains spoilers for The Walking Dead up until episode 2.07.

The Walking Dead has just reached it’s mid-season finale here in the UK. Like many people who want to enjoy the visceral thrills of seeing a man beat another man to a pulp while remaining in denial about the serial killer within, I’m a fan.
The adverts in the week leading up have shown bits from the upcoming episode. Where The Walking Dead is different from many other programmes, is that rather than showing action shots from a variety of scenes, that look exciting but are difficult to gain any meaning from, The Walking Dead adverts on the FX channel have been an extended scene, taken, I think, from the preview at the end of the previous episode.

He’s going to be so embarassed when he looks down

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Review

Review: The Cafe, episodes 1 & 2

David Stringer

Sky One’s new sitcom The Cafe comes from the pens of Ralf Little and Michelle Terry – the former made his name playing dopy younger brother Antony on The Royle Family, and starring in Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps; the latter experienced mainly in stage work, including spells with the Royal Shakespeare Company.
The pair are mentored by Craig Cash, best known for playing Caroline Aherne’s boyfriend Dave on The Royle Family – which I hadn’t realised he also co-wrote with Aherne – and Early Doors, which he co-wrote and appeared in.

The Royle Family and Early Doors share a downbeat, realist tone. There’s a sense that runs through both shows of understated realism, that everything that’s seen really could happen.
Along with The Office and Smoking Room, these are probably the best Brit sitcoms of  that type in the last decade. (Possibly including Peep Show as well, the doubt being about style rather than quality.)
So, in short, the creators should know what they’re doing with this style of comedy – the phrase ‘from the makers of’ is often used to promote a new programme or film, given that The Cafe aims for the same style as it’s predecessors, here it’s pretty much as accurate as it can be.

Ralf Little and Michelle Terry

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Review

Review: Life’s Too Short episodes 1 & 2

David Stringer

A note – as the show features a lot of actors playing a fictionalised version of themselves, I’ve referred to the characters in inverted commas. So, the actor Warwick Davis plays the character ‘Warwick Davis’, Ricky Gervais plays ‘Ricky Gervais’, Liam Neeson plays ‘Liam Neeson’, and so on.

A bit of background – in the weeks leading up to the show’s beginning, Ricky Gervais has gotten himself involved in a stupid bit of controversy. He’s returned to Twitter, and gotten involved in an incredibly annoying argument over the word ‘mong’. He’s been arguing that the word has lost it’s social stigma (an insulting word for a retarded person), and that it’s now only a word for idiot. He’s been refusing to back down or accept that, with language being an elastic concept that develops and changes over time, it could have a meaning for some people beyond what he understands it to have.
It’s been a very stupid argument that I’ve deliberately avoided hearing too much about. The two options are that Gervais is extremely overconfident of his opinion, or that he’s been deliberately causing a controversy to promote his new show. Pulling a Trump, in other words.
Also, the concept (Warwick Davis plays ‘Warwick Davis’ in a mockumentary about life as a dwarf actor) sounds a little like a spoof to me, closer to the show-within-a-show When the Whistle Blows in Extras. So, I wasn’t optimistic going in.

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Analysis

Episode Analysis: Friends – The One Where Ross and Rachel Take a Break/The One The Morning After 3.15/3.16

David Stringer

The aim of this blog is to analyse, take apart, look at technical elements of stories – TV episodes, films, and so on, to look at the story, characters, jokes, look at what, in my opinion, works and doesn’t, and why.

I’m going to begin not by looking at any particular story element, but looking at one episode in particular, from whatever angles I can see.

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