Of Funny People

Funny People, the new film from Judd Apatow. Aptly named Funny People, even if it isn't actually a laugh a minute fun fest, it is about Funny People. Now if you go in expecting a fun fest you will be sorely dissapointed. You need to know that Funny People front and foremost is a drama film with the humour coming more from the stand up comedy sections and the "funny peoples" reactions to real worldly events. As apposed to something larger than life happening and comedy being drawn from that.

So is Funny People actually any good? For about and hour and a half/two hours yes it is. But it's the last act of the movie, or as many people have pointed out "when the second movie starts" it just gets boring and tedious. If a movie can sustain a two and a half hour run time then by all means do it. The Boat That Rocked could but only because of a large ensemble cast and the bittiness of the plot. Sadly Funny People can't, there are only two main actors with the other actors more or less being segregated into either half of the movie with a maybe a few cameos in the other. My main point of contention is that the first half of the film is EASILY a 9/10. It's a superb look inside the lives of comedians with the humour coming from realistic places even in the face of the drama that is occurring in their lives that it's such a shame that the second half quite frankly doesn't work, probably about a 6/10, for reasons I'll move onto later.

The main plot of the film follows George Simmons (Adam Sandler) a famous comedian, who is diagnosed with a life threatening disease. So following his diagnosis begins to try and get back to his roots and why he became a comedian in the first place. This means doing stand-up. It's here he meets Ira Wright (Seth Rogen) and aspiring comedian who eventually get's hired to be Simmons' assistant who is to write all his jokes and help him with the disease. Through this Simmons discovers what he missed in his life, his ex-fiance, Laura (Leslie Mann) who he convinces doesn't love her husband (Eric Bana). However once he recovers he decides to win Laura back...*

The good points include the fact that Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen are both great leads. Both are showing amazing acting talent. Adam Sandler proves once again that he's an amazing dramatic actor as we've seen in films such as 'Punch Drunk Love' and it's a shame to see him still pushing movies like 'Bedtime Stories' rather than making some mature career choices as quite clearly he's capable to make. Seth Rogen continues to prove he isn't just an affable stoner with his performances this year in 'Observe and Report' and 'Funny People' and he proves once more that he is one of the most talented young actors in Hollywood. The supporting cast to is great, Jonah Hill, Jason Schwartzman and Aubrey Plaza are all great as up and coming comedians with the right level of banter between the characters and that trademark of all Apatow films, a deft ability to adlib and come up with funniness that isn't in the script. The most obvious comes from the stand-up which was entirely written by the actors and entirely filmed with only 5 or 10 minutes being in the actual film.

Judd Apatow has a good script and knows how to play to his actors strengths as he's worked with the vast majority before (in particular Seth Rogen who has been in all three of his films as well as both of the shows made before he broke out into film) so that's definitely a big plus. He also proves he can do drama very well, but honestly no one was really disagreeing with him there as anyone who's seen Freaks and Geeks can attest to. He can even write romance as we've seen in 40 Year Old Virgin, it's just such a shame that after an incredible that he doesn't do it in this movie.

So here we go onto the weaker second half. Like Michael Bay, Judd Apatow needs to be hit with the editing stick and taught to make his movies tighter. You don't need to put every single idea into a movie, just enough to not leave the audience begging for it to finish. However luckily Judd Apatow can actually make a cohesive movie around this overabundance of ideas unlike Michael Bay who could film himself taking a shit then throwing a firecracker down the toilet and call it a movie and make a billion dollars (too strong?).

As I've said the drama and comedy that stem from George Simmons disease make for a great movie, but honestly the movie should end either with him being cured and learning a life lesson from THAT or him dying from the disease and Seth Rogen going on to have a massive career afterward based on the wisdom taught to him by his mentor. Not the hour that follows Apatow being at his most self-indulgent.

Self-indulgent? I hear you ask. Yes self-indulgent. He cast his wife and two children in the roles and spends and hour of the film following them around in a far weaker portion part of the movie that seems to spend so long harking on about romance and the strength of marriage that it stands at complete odds with the first half. Yes there are occasional moments of humour but it just feels like the other (far funnier) characters are thrown out to make way for the Appatow movie. There is honestly not much need for ANYTHING following the scenes where is told the disease might be gone. You could leave the cinema then and honestly not have many questions apart from "how will Ira patch up with his friends" and "will George Simmons get his life together". But honestly questions for a good movie are far better than a film you just get bored during and spend half the time starring at your watch.

Overall if you want to see a great drama about legitimately funny people and their lives with great acting and writing then the first half of Funny People is wholeheartedly recommended. But if you get bored during long tedious scenes of nothing really going on, which ends up leading nowhere and ultimately is exceedingly unfulfilling then the second half isn't for (if it's for anyone). If Judd Apatow knew how to be less self indulgent and actually edit his movies down by about 20 minutes (see Superbad) then he'd be left with one of the best movies of the year. Sadly he's left with one that just fell at the last hurdle.

7/10

*is it sad that I've left it on a cliffhanger?

September 2009

Well, well, well we've hit September. Full circle in terms of school year. Still a few days left and I need to put the finishing touches to an essay (it is currently killing me) and then I should be A OK. I've read enough books this summer so if I do what I did last year I should be alright (well as long as I don't go near Maths that is).

So September normally means, yay television is back. However that's a yes and no for this year. Yes Supernatural (Season 5 is going to kick so much arse), Dollhouse, Fringe, The Office, Gossip Girl and Heroes will all be back on I'm not that excited. Yes Mad Men, True Blood and Supernatural are all amazing reasons to be happy (True Blood season finale in two weeks btw) this year feels sort of lacking mostly due to the disappointing omissions of Chuck, Lost, Pushing Daisies and Terminator. Ahh well September is awesome for more that one reason.

And this year that reason is music. So what follows is a brief look at the month ahead in music:

September 14
The Resistance - Muse = It's Muse, one of the best bands in the UK releasing what is probably one of the most anticipated releases of the year, I'm going to see them in November and I'm loving what I've heard of the album so far, so yeah you could say I'm little excited. The band definitely rock

September 15
Beggars - Thrice = This album has been out since early last month, but this marks the physical release of what currently stands as one of my favourite albums of the year (along with Manchester Orchestra and Dear Hunter). If you haven't heard it yet you should track it down, it's not as heavy as their older work and is just all around superb, heartily recommended.

The World I Want To Leave Behind - Moneen = The band who released my favourite album of the decade finally return, whilst I don't think they'll be able to top 2006's seminal 'The Red Tree' I definitely want to hear this even if I'm hearing a lot of people saying it is just a bit too overproduced, the EP was good as I'm sure this will be too.

September 21
Forget the Night Ahead - The Twilight Sad = The new album from one of the top bands in one of the top music scenes in the world, Scotland. Scotland is currently pushing forward a lot of amazing bands, in particular Frightened Rabbit and since these guys are best mates with them, you know something great is going to come out of this release (even if I preferred FR's last release to TTS's)

September 22
Daisy - Brand New = This one leaked a few days ago and has been playing almost non-stop since then and I still don't know what to think, musically it's superb and apart from a few lyrical duds ("The Champ goes down like a clown in the second round") the album is amazing, it just sounds so different to Brand New's last album 'The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me' that I was a little taken aback by how heavy the opening track Vices is, if you like god music I would definitely say check this out, whether it's one of the years best will come down to me hearing a better quality version and whether I'm still playing it in 3 months.

Unmap - Volcano Choir = I heard this one for the first time yesterday and I have to say first impressions are that it's good, not as good as Bon Iver's main project but a lot of the songs are good just lack some of the sparseness that made Bon Iver's debut album so superb.

September 29
Brand New Eyes - Paramore = Again I'm not the biggest Paramore fan but I will say that if that can make a better album than 2007's Riot! they could easily make a really great album, it's just a shame that whilst they definitely have popular support they've yet to produce a seminal album like many other bands on this list.

And whilst that might be it for September, October has releases by Weezer, Say Anything, Wolfmother, Basshunter (bleh) and Cary Brothers. So if you can't find an album you like coming out in the next two months, clearly you're not looking hard enough.

Also if you're looking for movies to go see I'd say top of your lists should be (500) Days of Summer and District 9. I should be seeing District 9 this week, so I'll have a review of that going up soon and movies that came out last month you should are The Hurt Locker, it's a war movie but like District 9 beats the crap out other awful action movies that came out over the Summer (Transformers 2, Wolverine). I also saw Funny People, and whilst in fact being a really good mix of comedy and drama when it focuses on the lives of stand up comedians it up and shits itself when it delves into a romantic plot line for the last 30 mins which just feels indulgent of Judd Apatow and had me looking at the time for when the movie will end, full thoughts by weeks... I promise.

I'll also have a review up of True Blood season 2 verily soon as there is only one episode left but I can't for the life of me think why they would wait two weeks to air it. Also WATCH MAD MEN!!! That is all.

Currently Listening To: Daisy - Brand New
Currently Watching (Movie) - District 9
Currently Reading: The Portrait of Dorian Grey

Of Inglourious Basterds

You know that feeling you get when you come out of a really good film? I got that with Inglourious Basterds. It wasn't perfect by any means. But damn if it wasn't fun. It might not be quite as good as my current film of the year, The Wrestler, but heck not much could be. However I get the feeling that if I make a big deal out of this film then it'll come back and bite me on the ass, mostly due to length. I know people who didn't enjoy Benjamin Button and The Dark Knight due to their length, but all I have to say is that I watched all three films in perfect conditions and therefore came out enjoying. If you didn't enjoy them then it probably comes down to viewing conditions.

This is Quentin Tarantino's latest film. If you didn't realise he directed the near perfect Pulp Fiction, the heist film set after film Reservoir Dogs, kung-fu epic Kill Bill and the second half of Grindhouse, Death Proof. Whilst Death Proof wasn't nearly as good as his early work, Inglourious Basterds is. It isn't as good as Pulp Fiction (but not much is) but I would say it is about as good as Reservoir Dogs. I would definitely say it's best film in ages and features all his trademarks. His impeccable ear for film music, trademarks such as what can only be described as a glorious use of fonts when it comes to credits and chapter titles and the trademark Tarantino dialogue. Tarantino is a word-smith, much like Shakespeare he has a glorious way with words and knows just how to write a conversation without it seeming boring. Death Proof is still a good film and the majority of it is people talking in a bar, not many directors can say that. He's a director I just love to have let his actors talk, much like Kevin Smith and Joss Whedon. However Tarantino is probably a better all round director than them, but all three have done amazing work. Basterds also includes a lot of his normal flourishes. Switching viewpoints, different directing styles. But honestly can you ever get enough of just how visual a director he is?

So onto the Basterds. Surprisingly, midway through this film I realised that I have seen all three of Brad Pitt's latest films in a cinema (and massively enjoyed his four latest movies). Now it might almost become a running joke that I think Brad Pitt is massively talented as an actor, and honestly he is. Watch 12 Monkeys, Fight Club, Benjamin Button or Jesse James and try and disagree with me. The guy is hugely talented and I think gets too much bad press because of how sexy he is perceived to be by members of the fairer sex and his relationships with both Jennifer Anniston and Angelina Jolie. Whilst Inglourious Basterds isn't his best film, the role is a bit more like his role in Burn After Reading in terms of how funny it is. Surprisingly for all the adverts this film is an ensemble piece and Brad isn't the main attraction, but we'll get to that later. He isn't on screen as much as you'd think but when he is he shines albeit not as strongly as some previous endeavors.

Well I hear you ask what is the main attraction of the movie? Christoph Waltz as Hans Landa. Honestly this guy stole every scene he was in. Whilst I'm fairly sure I heard a couple of dips in accent (he's an Austrian who lives in London) the guy brings an energy that is welcomed. He's equal parts funny and scary. He plays a German nicknamed the Jew Hunter and is the one character who connects all the different threads of the story. Honestly if you nothing else about this movie excites you, then realise that this just might be an Oscar-worthy performance. He plays a villain...kind of. By the end of the film it really turns things on their head in respects to this guy, although what happens to him in the end is equal parts gruesome and funny. If the fact it's a Tarantino movie or that it has Brad Pitt isn't enough to grab your attention, go just to see this performance. Just like Heath Ledger last year and Javier Bardem in 2007, this villainous performance I can really get behind. All three have brought astounding nuanced villains to the screen perfectly. Oscar worthy surely (I wasn't wrong with the last two).

Of course this being an ensemble I couldn't forget many of the other great performances in the film. Eli Roth (director of Hostel) as the Bear Jew prompts one of the more shocking scenes of the movie (it involves a baseball bat), it's just a shame the intrigue of the character is ruined when he talks like a typical American. Til Schweiger gets the greatest introduction ever in film history which I will not ruin but will say it features an awesome montage and I was greatly upset that he did receive more screen time because prompted many laughs just with facial expressions (especially the bar scene). Michael Fassbender is great as Archie Hicox, a role originally meant for Simon Pegg, whilst I'm sure Pegg would have been great I can't help but feel that Fassbender took the role and ran with it. Finally both Melanie Laurent and Diane Kruger are great as the female leads, particularly Laurent*.

The story of this movie is quite definitely set in an alternate World War 2 for reasons which will become abundantly clear towards the films climax. Honestly the film is kind of a war film but very much a Tarantino war film in the fact that most of it is dialogue. When action breaks out it is very well done but only really occurs at two moments in the film. However the final action is amazing and very well done. The majority of the movie is just building up the tension and letting the characters talk. Tarantino isn't quite as adept as building up tension as other directors such as the Coen Brothers but particularly in the first Chapter of the movie he does it wonderfully when he in his own words he's "pulled the elastic band so tight it's about to break". Really the movie is all about building up to moments of violence and luckily when they do happen they're suitably graphic (it's an 18 after all). The moments are definitely cringe worthy and elicited groans from the audience in the cinema when we saw them and ranged from scalping, bullet holes, baseball bats to the head and the final shots of the film which was honestly a nigh on perfect way to end the film.

Overall this is another superb film from Tarantino. Whilst many will dislike it because of it's length, I honestly didn't feel it. It's equal parts funny and gripping and mixes the two perfectly. It features everything that makes a Tarantino film so great, in particular his dialogue and use of music and just add to some of the reasons why he's one of the best and most visionary directors in the business. He manages to get an amazing performance out of the real star of this movie in the form of Christoph Waltz who is easily worth the price of admission. Whilst the movie isn't perfect, you can't help but feel this isn't the true version of the film with some scenes quite definitely being cut and some things being extremely vaguely hinted at (the final outcome of four of the Basterds). Whilst I would love to see a director's cut, what stands at the moment is a more than worthy movie.

I want to reiterate the movie is looong. Almost three hours long to be exact. Make sure you're in the mood to see and not just seeing because it's apparently a good film. Go see it because you want to, so we don't have to endure your bitching about how you didn't enjoy what is a great film. This movie isn't for everyone but Tarantino never is. If you don't like the man's style avoid it. If you do, you'll probably love it, I went with three friends and we all loved it. Honestly there are people who don't like his style, but I really don't think I'd want to get to know you if you don't appreciate how talented he is and how great this film really is.

Tarantino provides his own unique take on war film that is an entirely new beast that is hugely reverent to the cinema of the past (particularly films like the Dirty Dozen). It combines so many elements and all Tarantino's flourishes and it makes it hugely enjoyable. It's funny, it's tense and it's action packed. If you love good movies then do yourself a favour and see this movie, definitely one of the summers best.

9/10

*Then there's BJ Novak (Ryan in The Office), I thought he'd been taken away for what could have been essentially a cameo, but luckily his role expands towards the end along with another Basterd named Omar who gets quite possible the best five seconds of the entire movie with one slow motion running sequence.

Of Supernatural Seasons 2, 3 and 4

The above video is entirely footage from Supernatural Season 1, it's set to 'Carry On My Wayward Song' which has become a kind of theme tune for the show, not only because it is about two sons but also because it's the song that plays before every finale with a kick-ass montage of the preceding episodes. This is the montage before the Season 1 finale (I've already reviewed Season 1) so I'm trying to keep spoilers to a minimum because this is a show I whole heatedly recommend for people who not only like genre shows but also fun shows, good acting and is quite often equally dramatic and hilarious.

For those who recall I reviewed Season 1 late last year and gave it a 7.5/10 saying that Season 2 had promise. All I'm going to say is that Season 2 more than delivered on that promise. Season 2 is a massive improvement over Season 1. The actors got the characters, the writers knew where the stories were going to go, the monsters weren't as uninspired (racist car? seriously?) and the show took us down many quirky avenues along the way. Whilst Season 3 is definitely weakened by having 6 episodes cut out because of the strike, it still delivers in many respects especially when it comes to the main plot of the season that was started at the end of Season 2. However Season 4 is where the show really kicks into high gear. What was a hell of lot of fun in both action, comedy and drama elevated itself to a show that asked big questions and is now set in Season 5 to have their own version of the Apocalypse with characters like God and The Devil coming along for the ride. That's a big development for a show that started out as two brothers battling unconnected monsters in the first season.

The main characters of the show are Sam and Dean Winchester. The main premise is that these two are hunters, not hunters of dear, but hunters of all manner of Supernatural creatures. Demons, Vampires, Werewolves, Ghosts and Shapeshifters. The show creates a series of lore for each creature and how you kill it and whilst many creatures are faced more than once, the show can still surprise in how fresh it feels when they take it down in what is more less the same way. There are so many Vengeful Spirit episodes and whilst not all are as great as each other the show can still make these episodes interesting and downright fun to watch.

The show is grounded wonderfully by the main actors Jensen Ackles as Dean Winchester and Jared Padalecki as Sam Winchester. Whilst in Season 1 in some episodes it was clear they were just getting used to the characters, in the all the subsequent seasons they OWN the characters. All I have to say is that I want more Jensen Ackles on television. Whilst Jared Padalecki is great in his own right and can more than hold his own, it's Jense Ackles I've really become attached to. The guy is a bit like the quintessential cocky badass but can still come off as being a nuanced character when it comes to the emotional beats. The chemistry between the two lead actors is literally staggering. They are just a force to be reckoned, no matter what sort of scene it is these two make it work. They can be naturally hilarious with just a look and yet a few scenes later can have a deeply dramatic speech that actually makes you feel for these characters.

There aren't many shows I'll say I laugh at each and every episode but Supernatural is one of them. There is always some joke or some line or even some reaction that is hilarious. In one episode the two find out their lives are in a series of books and they have fans which lets them go onto a real Supernatural fan board and react to all the complaints to the show and even the Dean/Sam slash fiction (aka gay incest). It's wonderfully done and what's even more staggering is that a just a few scenes later they're in a life or death situation and acting their asses off in a completely different.

The show just gets the balance between comedy and drama completely. They know that without humour a show dealing with the subject they are can become too depressing, so they throw us more than enough comedic moments, and not just that but seriously hilarious moments. Plus the show will occasionally take time out from the main storyline and give us an episode that is just really quirky and funny. Many of these come from a certified genius, Ben Edlund, ex-Firefly and Angel writer (he wrote the puppet episode) but not all of them of course because he can do the dramatic seriously well also. Stuff like a Trickster God playing pranks, suicidal teddybears, Dracula paying for pizza using coupons, an episode filmed in the same style as a reality show (complete with bleeped swearing) and a groundhog day episode. Whislt not all of these Ben Edlund episodes, I can't help but feel he had a massive hand in their writing.

There isn't another show on television that gets the mix of comedy, drama and action so right apart from Chuck. Whilst Supernatural is obviously more dramatic they're both similar in terms of how they work and are equally as fun to watch. Like Chuck they also get how to a mix of standalone and plot driven episodes. Season 1 hinted at some larger elements but again it took Season 2-4 to elevate it. Season 1 was mostly set-up for the later seasons (some revelations were still coming in Season 4) but once it was done the show began to knock down plot points and showed an impeccable eye for old pieces of mythology. Better than Lost even which whilst it had a set story they didn't know the time frame. Supernatural knows its time frame is 5 seasons and building up to that, which gives it a massive plus over Lost (which is admittedly still the better show). The main plot of each season is constantly in the background and whilst not always at the forefront it still feels present.

Now being a show called Supernatural means it takes a lot of elements from horror movies. The first two seasons are definitely more centric to this idea of monster of the week which evolves to almost every episode of Season 4 being related to the main plot in some way. It's a steady progression however Season 2 and Season 4 definitely benefit the most. Season 2 for letting the writers mess around a little and introduce important elements in seemingly stand alone episodes that would be important later on and Season 4 because all the blocks are there for them to knock over. It's a shame Season 3 suffers in some respects such as the introduction of two female characters who don't mesh right and the condensing of so much plot into 4 episodes at the end of the season. It isn't bad but it's yet another casualty of the strike (along with Pushing Daisies, it seems Lost is the only show to have benefited).

Now for the gore. Before this show I had some fairly naive ideas about television censorship. The most you could show on a network show were gunshots and possibly some hinted violence as well as punching. Dear Lord was I wrong. This show is gory as hell. As I previously said I was impressed that they could show a full on head shot in this show but that's just a tip of the ice berg. Decapitation by barbed wire, frequent slit throats with blood gushing out, slit wrists, objects frequently stabbed through necks (most memorably from the position where we could see it come through the other side), eyeballs being scooped out of eye sockets, drowning on land, biting through a mans shoulder and someone being ripped to shreds by hell hounds. It's a cornucopia of violence and gore that can only be met by proper horror movies. Hell it's gorier than shows like Dexter (although not True Blood that show has recently made me feel physically ill whilst watching). Even the swearing is edging it for network shows. It's not at Dexter or Deadwood levels but still how many times can you say dick in a show?

The final place the show has improved upon over Season 1 is the expansion of it's supporting cast. The show is essentially about two brothers and in Season 1 there were really only one or two characters who appeared in more than one episode. Luckily in later Seasons we get a far more robust cast meaning that old characters can come back in cool ways. Whilst because the nature of some characters on the show it doesn't necessarily mean that it's always the same actor playing the character. To avoid spoilers I'll just say that whilst not all the characters work (two female characters in Season 3 but pay off comes for one in Season 4) many of them are delight. Fellow hunter Bobby is a definite highlight and appears in all four seasons so it's a definite treat whenever he shows up. I'm not going to say any other recurring characters apart from they involve many Demons, other Winchester family members, FBI agents, fellow hunters, physics, chosen children and Season 4 plot element **g****.

Overall the show improved on many of the elements of Season 1, they got the writing down amazingly well, the cast has increased in size whilst still keeping the heart of the show which is the two brothers. It feels like a horror movie made for TV albeit less scary but still gory. Plus the story has become all encompassing rather than being brought up every couple of episodes. Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki, are simply amazing if only for their chemistry and comedic timing (seriously they're up there with actor chemistry like Terry O'Quinn and Michael Emerson in Lost and Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul in Breaking Bad). The show has increased it's scope and truly become epic as it has progressed and delivered on all the promise of it's first season.

Seriously, I've fallen in love with this show, even if Season 3 faltered a little it doesn't detract from the two seasons that are on either side and still fulfills its purpose albeit not as well as Seasons 2 or 4 It's a fun show that might not be as dramatically satisfying as The Wire or Mad Men but it's a hell (haha) of a lot of fun and is just superb. Think Chuck with demons and you're close to the feel of this show. But honestly to sum up the appeal of this show, let's just say it's about two brothers travelling across America in Chevy Impala loaded with plenty of weapons battling demons as they go and listening to classic rock music.

9/10

P.S. Season by Season rating:
Season 2 - 9/10
Season 3 - 8/10
Season 4 - 9/10

August 2009

So it's August. So much for increased blog count. However I have been very busy. What with work experience, trips to Cornwall and a week of filming which eventually became living at my friends house, drinking, dicking around and watching films. Was a lot of fun. However I have my final scene to film tomorrow and then the film will be more or less done apart from a couple of fight scenes (which may have already been done due to me being down in Wales over the past few days). So all in all filming went well despite problems with weather and people not being able to make it. We may not have done it four days but we had fun which is the main thing.

August is upon us and really it means three things. Mad Men Season 3, a trip to Malaysia and results. Two of which I'm looking forward to. No prize if you can guess which one because it's very obvious. Mad Men Season should be awesome so I'll be bigging that up a lot on this blog.

In terms of my television mass watching I've got done with Undeclared and Alias. At the moment I'm watching Supernatural and Battlestar Galactica which are the main two for the summer. This is along with True Blood (which is awesome currently) and watching Veronica Mars on E4 (seriously it's on everyday at 11 WATCH IT!!!) I haven't done as much as I wanted due to general busyness but really I didn't know I'd up spending a week in Bagshot filming. Or that my laptop wouldn't work properly in Cornwall so the next 10 days (shit that's not long) will be devoted to catching up. And History. And my novel (2 chapters and a prologue in). And reading. And driving lessons.

You might as well just ignore this blog however I will hopefully have two movie reviews up in the form of Moon (I hope to see it tomorrow) and potentially Inglorious Basterds if we can make it to an advanced screening. However since its the day before I go away I might not be able to get a review up. All depends.

Stuff Coming Soon
Moon Review
Inglorious Basterds Review

Currently Listening To: Red Hands - The Dear Hunter
Currently Watching (TV) - Supernatural/Battlestar Galactica/True Blood Season 2
Currently Watching (Movie) - Moon (I hope)
Currently Reading: Twilight/Dead Until Dark (competitive blog post to come early September aka the month of music)

Emmy Nominations 2009

Yup it's late but I honestly haven't the time to sit and blog recently. I managed to get some novel stuff done using pen and paper in Cornwall from where I got back from on Saturday only to immediately go down to Wales the next day to look at the renovations done to our house down there. Today was mostly spent sleeping and watching anything I may have missed on television over the past week. But now I'm back and it's Emmy Nominations!!!

To start with yes there are snubs. Some quite obvious ones but honestly the only one that really pisses me off is Chuck not getting any big nominations. Pushing Daises got one for Outstanding Supporting Actress (Kristen Chenowith) so I can live with that loving since the show was mercilessly canceled. Chuck is massive snub however considering how good it is, but as well all know geek shows don't get nominated. Take Battlestar Galactica, whilst it still gets more acclaim than other shows (*cough*TheWire*cough*) it just didn't get any respect for it's final season even when it's one of the most critical acclaimed shows on television and it's lead actors (again highly acclaimed) don't get any respect. Same goes for two other shows, The Shield and Friday Night Lights both of which got no respect. Also True Blood, it might be so bad it's good but it's still better than 95% of current television. However I'm behind on almost all of these shows so it doesn't affect me as much as their die hard fans.

Brief overview of the Best Comedy Series nominations:

BEST COMEDY SERIES
Entourage
Family Guy
Flight of the Conchords
How I Met Your Mother
The Office
30 Rock
Weeds

BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Steve Carell, The Office
Jemaine Clement, Flight of the Conchords
Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory
Tony Shalhoub, Monk
Charlie Sheen, Two and a Half Men

BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Christina Applegate, Samantha Who?
Toni Collette, United States of Tara
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, The New Adventures of Old Christine
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Mary-Louise Parker, Weeds
Sarah Silverman, The Sarah Silverman Program

SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Jon Cryer, Two and a Half Men
Kevin Dillon, Entourage
Neil Patrick Harris, How I Met Your Mother
Jack McBrayer, 30 Rock
Tracy Morgan, 30 Rock
Rainn Wilson, The Office

SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Kristin Chenoweth, Pushing Daisies
Jane Krakowski, 30 Rock
Elizabeth Perkins, Weeds
Amy Poehler, Saturday Night Live
Kristin Wiig, Saturday Night Live
Vanessa Williams, Ugly Betty

GUEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Alan Alda, 30 Rock
Beau Bridges, Desperate Housewives
Jon Hamm, 30 Rock
Steve Martin, 30 Rock
Justin Timberlake, Saturday Night Live

GUEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Jennifer Aniston, 30 Rock
Christine Baranski, The Big Bang Theory
Tina Fey, Saturday Night Live
Gena Rowlands, Monk
Elaine Stritch, 30 Rock
Betty White, My Name Is Earl

WRITING FOR A COMEDY SERIES
James Bobin, Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie, Flight of the Conchords ("Prime Minister")
Jack Burditt and Robert Carlock, 30 Rock ("Kidney Now!")
Robert Carlock, 30 Rock ("Apollo, Apollo")
Matt Hubbard, 30 Rock ("Reunion")
Ron Weiner, 30 Rock ("Mamma Mia")

DIRECTING FOR A COMEDY SERIES
Jeff Blitz, The Office ("Stress Relief")
James Bobin, Flight of the Conchords ("The Tough Brets")
Julian Falino, Entourage ("Tree Trippers")
Todd Holland, 30 Rock ("Generalissimo")
Beth McCarthy, 30 Rock(episode: "Reunion")
Millicent Shelton, 30 Rock ("Apollo, Apollo")

However I'm here to talk about the nominations I do like. For starters, How I Met Your Mother finally got nominated for Best Comedy. Whilst it has no chance against 30 Rock it's great to see it get the respect it deserves. Especially since it's my favourite comedy on television. Not necessarily the best, but my favourite. Also Neil Patrick Harris once more got nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor which with no Jeremy Piven being nominated (he has won for the past three years, God knows why) means he's in with an awesome shot. Especially because he is also the host and really it would make my day that an actor I would see in ANYTHING get the respect he deserves.

In surprising news Family Guy got nominated for Best Comedy Series, the first ever animated show to be nominated. Whilst I think this is great news I have to ask, why Family Guy? Yes it might be because the bracket has been expanded from 5 to 7 so some extra spots were needed, but Family Guy isn't the best animated series on television. Hopefully next year South Park will submit itself and get Family Guy's slot but at the moment Family Guy deserves despite (apparently) not being as good as it used to. On a side note The Simpsons tried to get itself nominated early on in it's tenure, 1993 and 1994, decided to put itself in the Outstanding Comedy slot and they submitted Mr. Plow one of the strongest episodes ever, so it shows how far we've come. Shame they didn't do it back then because maybe The Simpsons would have realised the quality was declining after they stopped getting nominated after about 8 years.

The other surprise comedy nomination was Flight of the Conchords. A small time comedy from a New Zealand music comedy which is extremely funny and only two seasons long. Well worth a look for. Think Tenacious D without the metal (on another note Tenacious D made a TV show in the 90s so why not go check out both now!!)

But when talking about comedy you can't not talk about the elephant in the room, 30 Rock. This year they managed to get a mind boggling 22 nominations. Highest for any comedy series EVER. They've won for the past two years, all five of the main actors for the show have been nominated with acting awards (with Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin winning last year), four out of the five nominations for writing and five of the eleven nominations for guest actors. The only show that could compete is The Office but 30 Rock is the critical darling and WILL win. I hope that the votes are split in the Supporting Actor category are split between the 30 Rock actors so Neil Patrick Harris can win an award. Please let that happen.

Brief overview of the Drama Series nominations:

BEST DRAMA SERIES
Big Love
Breaking Bad
Damages
Dexter
House
Lost
Mad Men

BEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Simon Baker, The Mentalist
Gabriel Byrne, In Treatment
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
Michael C. Hall, Dexter
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Hugh Laurie, House

BEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Glenn Close, Damages
Sally Field, Brothers & Sisters
Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: SVU
Holly Hunter, Saving Grace
Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men
Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer

SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Christian Clemenson, Boston Legal
Michael Emerson, Lost
William Hurt, Damages
Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad
William Shatner, Boston Legal
John Slattery, Mad Men

SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Rose Byrne, Damages
Hope Davis, In Treatment
Cherry Jones, 24
Sandra Oh, Grey's Anatomy
Dianne Wiest, In Treatment
Chandra Wilson, Grey's Anatomy

GUEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Edward Asner, CSI: NY
Ted Danson, Damages
Ernest Borgnine, ER
Michael J. Fox, Rescue Me
Jimmy Smits, Dexter

GUEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Brenda Blethyn, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Carol Burnett, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Ellen Burstyn, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Sharon Lawrence, Grey's Anatomy
CCH Pounder, The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency

WRITING FOR A DRAMA SERIES
Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof, Lost ("The Incident")
Kater Gordon and Matthew Weiner, Mad Men ("Meditations in an Emergency")
Andre Jacquemetton, Maria Jacquemetton and Matthew Weiner, Mad Men ("Six Month Leave")
Robin Veith and Matthew Weiner, Mad Men ("A Night to Remember")
Matthew Weiner, Mad Men ("The Jet Set")

DIRECTING FOR A DRAMA SERIES
Phil Abraham, Mad Men ("The Jet Set")
Bill D'Elia, Boston Legal ("Made In China/Last Call")
Rod Holcomb, ER ("And in the End")
Todd A. Kessler, Damages ("Trust Me")
Michael Rymer, Battlestar Galactica ("Daybreak Part 2")

These nominations, apart from the Guest Actress Nominations (seriously Law & Order for most the nominations?!?) and William Fucking Shatner, are perfect. Whilst yes The Shield and Battlestar Galactica aren't nominated, for me as a massive fan of Dexter, Lost, Mad Men and Breaking Bad these nominations are awesome.

Dexter, whilst season 3 wasn't it's best, it's still one of the best shows on television and thankfully both Michael C. Hall and Jimmy Smitts got nominations for their show stopping performances. If you want to see an acting master class, watch these two in Dexter Season 3.

Breaking Bad, season 2 far outstripped season 1 and it got an Emmy nomination to back up last years win for Bryan Cranston as Lead Actor (seriously the guy is a fucking God) plus Aaron Paul got a Supporting Actor nomination which makes me warm inside because he too is amazing and at times can stand toe to toe with Bryan Cranston himself.

Lost got a surprise nomination for Best Drama. Surprise not because the show is bad but because we leaped headfirst into science fiction this year with time travel. Whilst Heroes did get nominated in Season 1 (hard to believe after how shit it has become) science fiction tends to get ignored so good to see the Lost love spreading (even if Season 5 wasn't as good as Season 4). To back this up we got a nomination for Michael Emerson, who had better win. Whilst I've said Aaron Paul was awesome just above, Michael Emerson has yet to win an Emmy for his work on Lost and he needs one. Terry O'Quinn got one, so just give it to Michael Emerson please? Not fucking Willaim Shatner. Then the writing nomination. Lost this year has the distinction of being the only non-Mad Men show to be nominated for Drama Writing this year. This means Lost has got a nomination ever year for writing (I refuse to believe that The Constant wasn't nominated last year) meaning that if you have yet to check it out, what the fuck is wrong with you?

Just a brief bit on the Lead Actor race before I go onto the elephant in the room (yes that does mean we currently have two elephants in the room). This year it looks tight. Every single one of the nominations is amazing, whilst my personal favourites are Michael C. Hall, Jon Hamm and Bryan Cranston, I know that Hugh Laurie is amazing and that seriously any one of these guys could take it. Television spoils us with amazing actors. The Drama series nominations too are awesome, so much so I have pledged to watch Damages and may get round to Big Love and House eventually. So Drama has some all round good choices.

However if you know anything the favourite for this year is Mad Men and rightfully so. It is probably the best show on television at the moment and currently leads with 16 nominations. It won last year and got 2 Golden Globes so there isn't really of question of whether it will win at all. Jon Hamm is amazing as are Elisabeth Moss and John Slattery however I will say I am annoyed that January Jones didn't get nominated for Best Actress as she is probably the strongest female actress on television at the moment (if you don't know her she plays one of the American girls in Love Actually and the American fiance in The Boat That Rocked, completely tangential but people need to know who she is). It also got four of the nominations for Best Writing however I do hope Lost wins because they have yet to win for writing despite having both Walkabout and Through the Looking Glass Nominated Before.

Finally in other Emmy nomination bits, David Simon's miniseries Generation Kill is one of only two nominations for Best Miniseries so hopefully it'll win and I can forgive the egregious snubbing of The Wire the past few years. Also in Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog has been given a special nomination making it the only thing completely unrelated to television to receive and Outstanding Special Class nomination. Good luck to Mr. Whedon and cohorts.

And because it's been a while, trailer roundup!!!
District 9


Moon In cinemas this week!!! (review next week!!!)


Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland

Of Torchwood: Children of Earth

This new season of Torchwood, is very much in line with what is becoming known in Britain as 'event television', wherein we get five episodes, one shown every wweek night, and Torchwood seems just the show to do this with. It could have been incredibly interesting to follow people as they react to an alien invasion. Some amazing action sequences as the humans fight back agains the opressors. However the show doesnt go this route and instead makes a far more political agenda, focusing on the government's reaction and how they will do anyting to satiate the 456 and cover up previous goings on from 1965. Whilst this is all actually very interesting and at some points quite bleak (the government offering the 456 all the children asylum seekers and then later all underachieving school children) it defintiely isn't Torchwood. In fact the Torchwood are given more or less a back seat to the politcal dealings. Most of the time they're running away or sat starring at computer screens, something many people will say is 'boring' and whilst I wouldn't go that far, it definitely isn't what I expected from Torcwhood.

Obviously we also have the big reason as to why the 456 want children. After they took 12 children in 1965 (which Captain Jack was a part of and is the reason why he is blown up at the end of episode 1) there should have been no reason for them to come back. But back they've come and this time they want 10% of the worlds population of children (surprisingly good at maths as well because they work out 10% of them in every country in the world). The reason of course is that the 456 are getting high off of the children and in fact leads us onto the adult content for this season of Torchwood, we've had sex monsters so now we might as well have intergalactic druggies.

The other part of the story that is brought on by the 1965 incident (not including the politcal plotline of the Americans losing complete faith in our government) is the Clement McDonald character and how he ties in with the eventual conclusion. Whilst at first seeming to be an easy to introduce a pregnacy storyline for Gwen, we eventually find out he is 'The Remnant' and is the only thing that can kill the 456 due to his links to them. Of course after he is killed (The 456 send of a signal causing his brain to explode) we find out it isn't the only way to destroy the aliens as Captain Jack goes on to kill his grandson for the greater good by sending feedback, through his grandson to the 456, killing his grandson in the process. Of course this leads to Jack's disillusionment even more, especially following another death which is what causes his decision at the end of the season. However the image of the mother clutching her dead sons body with blood all over his face is yet another dark moment that Torchwood can add to their ever growing list.

Now to move onto big spoiler territory. For a series where the aliens spend all their time in a box they still manage to kill some people, including some of the Torchwood team. Which obviously leads to biggest moment, in that Ianto is now dead. This literally came as a massive shock to me. I didn't think they'd actually do it, but at the end of Day 4 Ianto gets poisoned and isn't credited throughout Day 5, so yup look likes Ianto has definitely left the show. Boy Torchwood get through employees quickly. Also again they've destroyed yet another happy romance on the show and this only comes four episodes after the last cull of the main cast on the show, showing Russell T. Davies does have balls....when he isn't working on Doctor Who. I just wish that the deaths were a bit further apart rather than being so close together, especially compared to Doctor Who where every single main character is still alive, even in parallel universes or with the potential for brain explosions.

To follow this we then have the wild card move of Captain Jack going off into space. Just a comment, but seriously he literally takes off like a Power Ranger, same special effect and all! I had flashbacks to being five. Obviously John Barrowman is in the last two specials of Doctor Who this year, but we can't really say where they land timelinewise so we don't really know if this in fact the end for Torchwood. Looking at the ratings I wouldn't say it is but there is definite finality to this season in the fact that we only have main character left on the show (Gwen) and the most charismatic actor on the show has gone into space and could assumedly become the Face of Boe and finish off the time loop. No need for Season 4, we could end here. But do we really want to?

Well to be honest I'm not entirely sure. Torchwood has always been a lot weaker than Doctor Who, I've consistently enjoyed Torchwood but it always feels like it loses some of the magic. John Barrowman is still great, in fact most of the cast is great, but something is lacking and honestly it's the magic that The Doctor brings to the universe. The frequent references to The Doctor throughout the special are actually welcome because you honestly want David Tennant to just show up and save the day. The show has a load of great actors and story ideas but it just lacks in some of the final product. John Barrowman is just more to watch in Doctor Who than Torchwood and Torchwood is literally Doctor Who without the Doctor but with swearing and sex. It's the same reason Sarah Jane Adventures doesn't pop in the same way (hopefully to change with David Tennant's appearance this year). But still Torchwood can churn out some great stories (which this is) that sadly aren't always as good as the best of Doctor Who.

I must give massive props to one scene from Day 5 though wherein John Frobisher is told that his children are to be given to the 456 and then we get a scene, narrated by his assistant saying how much of a great man he is, walks up the stars with a gun behind is back, walks into their room where they're having fun with their mother. The door closes and we hear three gunshots, followed by a pause and then the fourth shot. It's amazingly dark and is a testament to Russel T. Davies resilience as a writer, I just wish he was able to stuff like this more often. Maybe not as dark in Doctor Who, but still showing that life isn't always fantastic, he's done it before but quite often he brings things back to the status quo rather than actually staying in the dark place. This is one of the areas that Torchwood is better at, but sadly it is just one of the few.

Overall Torchwood: Children of Earth is great. It isn't superb but it is definitely the bleakest and possibly smartest thing to come from British television in quite a while. Whilst some will get bored with the fact there is very little action throughout, I have to say the set-up is quite often exceedingly interesting and helps build into the story. Also luckily the ending isn't as jarring as previous Doctor Who finales. However the fact that this is literally one five hour long episode, I would have been pissed if it had been a deus ex machina ending. Torchwood: Children of Earth is definitely a very enjoyable series, but compared to Doctor Who it still lacks some of the pop that makes that one of the best shows on television. Luckily some darker moments, great acting (John Barrowman and Peter Capaldi) and some actual twists (seriously they killed Ianto!) make this season immensely enjoyable, just not as great as it's older brother.

However I will concede that whilst it is completely unlike Season 1 and 2 it is probably the best of overall season, with the most interesting story and character moments. Good acting all around and probably the smartest writing the show has produced. Whilst individual episodes of the show are possibly better (such as Adrift), Children of Earth offers the most consistant season of the show, by far the most adult and bleakest story the show has told. With this season Torchwood found a leaping point from which I only hope it can leap off onto bigger and better things, I just hope that this isn't the last story for Jack and the team

8/10**

*Just a small note, still no clue why the 456 was vomiting everywhere. Probably just missed an explanation in my marathon viewing last night. Still really odd and kind of not scary due to the gunge sound effect they used EVERY time it happened.

**I do realise that this review is extremely different from where it started, but my opinion of this Season just keeps improving, which only the opposite can be said for Transformers 2 which I believe now sits at around a 3/10 in my mind.