Fringe. It's just the X files with a mad professor, right? You gave up, after watching a few episodes in the first series, didn't you?
Well, you'd be a fool and a communist if you had, because it's got a whole lot better since then...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qfjMraEE7o
Youtube won't let me embed it here on the blog, so click and watch, then read below.
I won't even put spoiler alert here, because that was a whole year ago...but that ending to series 1 was mind-blowing, no? Where is Olivia Denham? Did she go back in time? No, because the Obamas are in the White house. But..but..what's she doing in one of the twin towers? Just where the hell is she? The pretty broad hints were there all along. Fringe is really a show about parallel worlds. Not only that, but parallel worlds at war. And all of it was caused by the original mad scientist himself, Walter Bishop.
You wouldn't have thought it from the first half of the first series...because JJ Abrams was messing with you! He did the same with Lost. I gave up after 5 episodes, thinking "this is a bit samey - so they're on a bloody island, so what?", but my in-law's mentioned to me that it got a lot better in the second half of the season (and they were right: I was hooked right up to the end).
He hid Fringe's light under a bushel in exactly the same way. Rotten sod.
The delicious part of Fringe now is comparing the parallel Earths: Earth B has airships, a Grand Hotel in New York built by Gaudi, 9/11 never happened, and JFK was never assassinated. On the other hand, the whole world's falling to pieces thanks to Walter. And Walternate wants to kick his arse.
And so we start season 3, with Olivia imprisoned on Earth B, and her auburn-haired, tattooed alternate (BOlivia) over here, spying on us.
If you're not a fan, you've got a bit of time to catch-up before it starts again on Oct 5th on Sky 1. It's got the makings of a classic.
Oh, and if you like wars between parallel worlds, you love this:
http://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Luther-Arkwright-Bryan-Talbot/dp/1593077254
The Adventures of Luther Arkwright. One of the finest comics ever written. but that's another story...
Tuesday 28 September 2010
Sunday 26 September 2010
Hawaii Five...Oh.
Aloha! It's the remake. And it's great. At least for the first four-and-a-half minutes. Guns, explosions, James Masters (that bloke from Buffy who played Spike) being really nasty, that geezer from Die Hard 2 playing Steve McGarrett's dad, and then THAT theme tune. Oh my...that theme tune. Here's the 2010 version....
And then it all goes so, so wrong.
From the word go, the GLW and I were rolling our eyes. So spoiler alert , Here's the quick capsule guide:
* Immensely cheesy dialogue.
* McGarrett and Danno argue like a couple staying together for the sake of the kids.
* Why is it the two actors the audience are most likely to recognise (Daniel Dae Kim from Lost and Grace Park from Battlestar) have such underwritten roles?
* Was it really necessary for Grace Park's character to be introduced in her first scene...just wearing a bikini?? WTF?
Maybe the makers were trying to obtain that 1970s vibe?
Anyway, despite the show being switched off halfway through in the Gurudad household, it made me think of the original theme tune...and here it is! This is the best quality version I could find. It's still fantastic, and I prefer it to the 2010 version.
If you want to watch something contemporary about Hawaii - I suggest Lilo and Stitch. It gets better every time I watch it.
And then it all goes so, so wrong.
From the word go, the GLW and I were rolling our eyes. So spoiler alert , Here's the quick capsule guide:
* Immensely cheesy dialogue.
* McGarrett and Danno argue like a couple staying together for the sake of the kids.
* Why is it the two actors the audience are most likely to recognise (Daniel Dae Kim from Lost and Grace Park from Battlestar) have such underwritten roles?
* Was it really necessary for Grace Park's character to be introduced in her first scene...just wearing a bikini?? WTF?
Maybe the makers were trying to obtain that 1970s vibe?
Anyway, despite the show being switched off halfway through in the Gurudad household, it made me think of the original theme tune...and here it is! This is the best quality version I could find. It's still fantastic, and I prefer it to the 2010 version.
If you want to watch something contemporary about Hawaii - I suggest Lilo and Stitch. It gets better every time I watch it.
Now I've seen The Event....
It's not bad at all. There's a lot of flashbacks though, and GLW says she'd definitely watch it again.
If you've had a look at my previous post, and watched the trailer, there's something, well...a bit Lost about it. But fear not, if you were too stoopid/impatient to work out what went on in that series, all the Flashbacks (and flashbacks-within-flashbacks) are clearly signposted, and it's pretty clear what's happening by the end of the episode.
I would say spoiler alert next, but if you've seen the trailer, I ain't giving nuthin' away that you ain't already seen.
It's a conspiracy tale. Cuban-American President Martinez is about to free some weird dissidents from their hell-hole prison in Alaska. Somebody tries to kill him by landing a passenger jet on his head. You get to find out why the airline pilot is doing such a mental thing as well. That's about it in the first episode.
Actually, all credit to the makers of the show,they stuffed a lot into the pilot, so to speak. It shows a lot of promise. God Bless Channel 4. they've bought it and will start airing it in October.
If you've had a look at my previous post, and watched the trailer, there's something, well...a bit Lost about it. But fear not, if you were too stoopid/impatient to work out what went on in that series, all the Flashbacks (and flashbacks-within-flashbacks) are clearly signposted, and it's pretty clear what's happening by the end of the episode.
I would say spoiler alert next, but if you've seen the trailer, I ain't giving nuthin' away that you ain't already seen.
It's a conspiracy tale. Cuban-American President Martinez is about to free some weird dissidents from their hell-hole prison in Alaska. Somebody tries to kill him by landing a passenger jet on his head. You get to find out why the airline pilot is doing such a mental thing as well. That's about it in the first episode.
Actually, all credit to the makers of the show,they stuffed a lot into the pilot, so to speak. It shows a lot of promise. God Bless Channel 4. they've bought it and will start airing it in October.
The Event
Aired this week on NBC. It's told in flashback, has a pretty good cast (That nice Blair Underwood from LA Law, though aren't black Presidents of the USA in TV dramas now a a bit of a cliche? I wanna see a Chinese-American President, oh yea!) Just going to go and watch it now with GLW (good lady wife - did I really need to tell you that?). Anyway, here's the trailer. Feel free to watch it and go wtf?, or you might go ffs. I'm down with the kids, me.
Hey, nice flat screen telly....
It's a shame most TV you can watch on it is crap. There are wondrous exceptions, and I want to celebrate them on this blog.
I'll be looking at the good stuff, mostly US TV. If you like The Wire, Lost, Battlestar Galactica, Dexter, The Pacific, and Fringe, you'll probably want to read on. If you think that Jack Donaghy from 30 Rock is one of the finest comic creations..ever, then you will really like this blog.
If you only like The West Wing, Studio 60, or Mad Men you may still like this blog, but you're a bit pretentious, aren't you? (But I like you anyway).
I'll be taking a look at some of the new shows just airing in the US right now, and we can expect to see here in the UK fairly soon. I'll also be looking at those box sets that you just can never find the time to work your way through, and celebrating the occasional moments of genius on UK TV - like Sherlock.
Oh and I like other stuff, so I'll have the occasional mention of really good comics and films... y'know, shit like that.
Oh, and if you have any top tips for things I simply must see ....then get in touch.
Gurudad.
I'll be looking at the good stuff, mostly US TV. If you like The Wire, Lost, Battlestar Galactica, Dexter, The Pacific, and Fringe, you'll probably want to read on. If you think that Jack Donaghy from 30 Rock is one of the finest comic creations..ever, then you will really like this blog.
If you only like The West Wing, Studio 60, or Mad Men you may still like this blog, but you're a bit pretentious, aren't you? (But I like you anyway).
I'll be taking a look at some of the new shows just airing in the US right now, and we can expect to see here in the UK fairly soon. I'll also be looking at those box sets that you just can never find the time to work your way through, and celebrating the occasional moments of genius on UK TV - like Sherlock.
Oh and I like other stuff, so I'll have the occasional mention of really good comics and films... y'know, shit like that.
Oh, and if you have any top tips for things I simply must see ....then get in touch.
Gurudad.
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